UNITED NATIONS, July 16. /TASS/. Substantive dialogue within the Group of Twenty should be free from time-serving geopolitical topics, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
"Along with the United Nations, other multilateral associations are called to strengthen the multipolar fundament of international life. The Group of Twenty is among such association as it units both countries of the global majority and Western countries," Lavrov, who is currently the president of the UN Security Council, said during ministerial debates. "The G20’s mandate is confined to issues of economy and development. So, it is important to see to it that substantive dialogue in this format is freed from time-serving attempts to raise geopolitical topics. Otherwise, we will wreck this format."
According to the top Russian diplomat, the role of BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the efforts to build a fairer multilateral world order is growing. These organizations "unite countries representing various regions and civilization, which cooperate on the basis of equality, mutual respect, consensus, and mutually acceptable compromises - I would call this a ‘golden standard’ of multilateral cooperation involving great powers," he stressed.
He also noted the significance of such regional associations as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), ASEAN, Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), Arab League, African Union, and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). "We think that it is an important task to establish comprehensive ties between them, including with the use of the UN potential," he said. "Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council will dedicate one of the next meetings to the United Nations’ cooperation with Eurasian regional organizations".