North Korea 'provocations' make push to abolish nuclear arms harder - G7

G7 foreign ministers (L to R) E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, Canada's Foreign Minister Stephane Dion, Britain's Foreign Minister Philip Hammond, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni and France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault stand together after placing wreaths at the cenotaph at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum in Hiroshima, Japan April 11, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

HIROSHIMA (Reuters) - The effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons has been made more complex by North Korea's repeated provocations and by the worsening security environment in Syria and Ukraine, the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers said on Monday.

Gathering in the Japanese city of Hiroshima where the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945, the ministers also said they found it profoundly deplorable that North Korea had conducted four nuclear tests during the 21st century.