May 19 (Reuters) - Leaders of the world's richest democracies agreed on Friday to stiffen sanctions against Russia, while a draft communique to be issued after their talks in the Japanese city of Hiroshima stressed the need to reduce reliance on trade with China.

SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE

* G7 leaders said they had ensured that Ukraine had the budget support it needs for this year and early 2024. "Today we are taking new steps to ensure that Russia’s illegal aggression against the sovereign state of Ukraine fails and to support the Ukrainian people in their quest for a just peace rooted in respect for international law," they said in a statement.

* The United States on Friday announced sanctions on more than 300 targets, aiming to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and intensifying one of the harshest sanctions efforts ever implemented.

* U.S. President Joe Biden informed G7 leaders that Washington will support a joint effort with allies to train Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets, CNN reported, citing a senior U.S. administration official.

* German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his government wanted pragmatic measures to prevent the circumvention of sanctions imposed on Russia.

* Britain published plans to ban imports of Russian diamonds, copper, aluminium and nickel and announced a new wave of sanctions against Russia, targeting companies connected to the alleged theft of Ukrainian grain.

* Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, India's foreign ministry said on Friday, their first meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

DEALING WITH CHINA

* G7 members are prepared to build "constructive and stable relations" with China while acting in their national interests, according to a draft version of their communique seen by Reuters on Friday.

* Biden met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after arriving in Japan and the two discussed ways to strengthen defence cooperation and counter coercive behaviour by China, the White House said in a statement.

* China is gravely concerned about recent signs of "negative" China-related moves at the G7 summit and urges Japan not to turn it into a "political show" against or to curb China, the country's embassy in Japan said.

CLIMATE/ENERGY/NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

* The G7 must take the lead in phasing out fossil fuels, the leaders of seven countries including The Netherlands and Chile have said, attempting to build momentum for a global deal this year to gradually quit oil, coal and gas.

* The G7 believes that publicly supported investment in the gas sector can be temporarily appropriate while countries are accelerating the phasing-out of their dependency on Russia, a draft communique seen by Reuters showed.

* Leaders of the G7 called for a "world without nuclear weapons," urging Russia, Iran, China and North Korea to cease nuclear escalation and embrace non-proliferation, a statement released by the White House showed.

IN-DEPTH STORIES

* At Hiroshima G7, bomb survivors grapple with a disarmament dream deferred

* In her own words: A Hiroshima bomb survivor learns English to tell her story

* Japan's G7 refugee balancing act: door open for Ukrainians, but not many others

Compiled by Reuters editors

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