The European Commission has issued a statement declaring the presidential run-off in Zimbabwe as a ‘sham’.
Elsewhere, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US will bring up the issue of further sanctions against Zimbabwe at the United Nations Security Council.
Ms Rice said after a gathering of Group of Eight foreign ministers in Kyoto that there were those in the international community who thought the Security Council should take up sanctions against Zimbabwe.
"We intend to bring up the issue of Zimbabwe in the council and we will see what the council decides to do," she said.
The G8 said today that Zimbabwe's first round of presidential elections must be respected, and they could not accept the legitimacy of a government not reflecting the will of the people.
President Robert Mugabe has defied mounting world condemnation and calls to postpone an election
"We note that the results of the March 29, 2008, elections must be respected and that any dialogue between the parties must allow a legitimate government to be formed," the foreign ministers said in a statement at the end of their meeting in Japan.
Meanwhile, Italy wants European Union foreign ministers to discuss recalling European ambassadors from Zimbabwe.
Italy's foreign minister said he asked French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to start that process, given that France's six-month European Union presidency starts in July.
"I will ask Kouchner ... to start a rapid consultation process for the recall of the ambassadors from Zimbabwe," Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told reporters in Kyoto.
Reuters