Britain’s top diplomat welcomed Group of Seven foreign ministers to Liverpool on Saturday with a warning that “free democratic nations” must wean themselves off Russian natural gas and Russian money to preserve their independence, AP reported.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is hosting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other G-7 counterparts for weekend talks in the northwest England port city as the wealthy nations club faces growing tensions with Russia, China and Iran.

Truss said she wanted to work with other countries “to make sure that free democratic nations are able to have an alternative to Russian gas supplies,” a reference to the contentious Nord Stream 2 pipeline carrying natural gas from Russia to Germany.

“There have been decisions made by the free world ... in the short term to obtain cheap energy or cheap financing, and that has a long-term cost for freedom and democracy,” she said. “And we can’t make that mistake again.”