MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called on his counterparts from the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) nations to come up with a joint signal to the world in favor of strengthening and reforming the multilateral system.

"Our association plays one of the leading roles in settling global problems today. It is an example of real multiversity - inclusive, universal and non-discriminatory," he said on Tuesday at an online meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers.

"In this context, we support the initiative of our Indian friends who called on the BRICS foreign ministers to send a strong common signal to the world in favor of strengthening and reforming the multilateral system on the bedrock basis of international law, on the basis of the generally-recognized central role of the United Nations as the most universal and inclusive organization, in global affairs. And the unanimous voice of BRICS is highly relevant," he said.

The Russian top diplomat noted that negative tendencies have surfaced in international relations amid the pandemic, with an increased potential for conflict and heightened risks of the collapse of the strategic stability system. "National egoism, unscrupulousness in the choice of means to win global dominance, ignoring the interests of other countries undermine the foundation of the post-World War II multilateral system, which rests on international law. I mean the United Nations Charter rather than the rules our Western colleagues keep on inventing," he noted, adding that more and more new challenges are facing the world community.

"These problems can be resolved only through consolidated efforts," Lavrov stressed.