BRUSSELS, September 7. /TASS/. Ambassadors to EU from members of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations met at Russia’s Permanent Mission to the EU to mark the beginning of the 78th UN General Assembly, the Russian diplomatic mission has told TASS.

Acting Russian permanent representative to the EU Kirill Logvinov said that contacts among the group’s members have become particularly important under modern-day circumstances.

"It is important to step it up beyond New York, including here in Brussels. For our part, we reiterate our readiness to contribute in every possible way to the further revitalisationof the activities of the Group and its expansion. We are convinced that raising the profile of this format in the information space here in Brussels will contribute to the realisation of the common goals and objectives that unite us within this Group," the ambassador said at the meeting.

According to the Russian diplomatic mission, participants of the meeting engaged in an "informal exchange of opinions about the current international situation, characterized by numerous threats to multilaterality, including the use of unilateral restrictions and attempts to undermine efforts to resolve global problems."

"Participants of the meeting agreed that it is important to further promote the group’s goals on international platforms where its members have agreed to cooperate, in the context of their common effort to ensure respect, support and protection of the UN Charter in spirit and letter," the Russian mission added.

The Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations was created with Russia’s active participation in July 2021. Currently, it brings together 19 nations: Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Bolivia, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Iran, Cambodia, China, North Korea, Cuba, Laos, Mali, Nicaragua, Palestine, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Syria, Equatorial Guinea and Eritrea.

The group’s participants oppose attempts to replace the UN-centric model of international affairs with the "rule-based order." The group holds regular ministerial meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Week in New York.