Russia says talks on Eurasian multipolarity charter officially launched

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday that negotiations on the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century had officially begun.

According to a joint statement published by the ministry, the process will be open to all interested Eurasian states and based on sovereign equality, inclusiveness, transparency and equal participation.

A ministerial meeting was held on the sidelines of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York and was co-chaired by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov at Russia’s UN mission.

The two officials said negotiations on the charter would help build trust and establish common approaches to security issues across Eurasia based on balancing the interests of all countries involved.

They said the charter would outline principles for interstate security cooperation, including equality and indivisible security, as well as countries’ responsibility for addressing regional security challenges. They also said it would provide a foundation for a new international relations architecture.

The officials said the charter would promote economic cooperation and connectivity, humanitarian ties, civilizational dialogue and mechanisms for equal decision-making among Eurasian countries.

Representatives of several Eurasian states welcomed the Belarusian-Russian initiative and expressed interest in joining the negotiations.

The meeting concluded with representatives from Belarus, Vietnam, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Myanmar, Russia and Tajikistan adopting a joint statement launching the negotiations and approving rules for a working group tasked with drafting the charter.