President Vladimir Putin told Western ambassadors Tuesday that Russia remained committed to mutually beneficial cooperation, but wanted a fair world order.

Putin, who met newly appointed ambassadors from across the world, including Japan, Canada and Israel, said Russia was against "illegal" sanctions and restrictions.

But Russia would use all possible means in response to a potential NATO aggression, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in remarks reported by RIA news agency Tuesday.

"Nobody will be safe, neither those across the Atlantic, nor those across the English channel," Lavrov said in an interview.

Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven democracies and three key allies said Tuesday they were gravely concerned by the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia and the possibility they might be used in the war against Ukraine.

"The DPRK's (North Korea) direct support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, besides showing Russia’s desperate efforts to compensate its losses, would mark a dangerous expansion of the conflict," the ministers said in a statement.

Besides G7 members the United States, Japan, Italy, Britain, Germany, France and Canada, the statement was also signed by South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

The ministers said they condemned "in the strongest possible terms" increased military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including Russia's "unlawful procurement" of North Korean ballistic missiles.

They said they were deeply concerned about the potential for any transfer of nuclear or ballistic missile-related technology to North Korea, and would work with international partners "for a coordinated response to this new development."