The foreign ministers of Japan, the United States, Australia and India vowed Friday to support the protection of national sovereignty and territorial integrity under international law, amid mounting fears Russia could invade Ukraine.
"The Quad" major Indo-Pacific democracies "champion the free, open, and inclusive rules-based order, rooted in international law, that protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of regional countries," they said in a joint statement released after their meeting in Melbourne.
The gathering was just the third in-person meeting among the four nations' foreign ministers and the first face-to-face meeting since October 2020. It brought together Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.