MOSCOW, May 16 (Xinhua) -- China's Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhang Jun and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said Thursday that both countries oppose unilateralism and uphold multilateralism.
Unilateralism is the source of various instability and uncertainties, Zhang said here at a China-Russia consultation on multilateral affairs with Vershinin, adding that unilateralism damages global economy, disturbs international order and erodes the bottom line of morality.
China is ready to work with Russia to firmly maintain multilateralism and preserve a free, open and non-discriminatory multilateral trade system, Zhang said.
China will protect the international system with the United Nations at its core and the international order with international law as its basis, and safeguard fairness and justice, he said.
China-Russia relations maintain strong momentum and have reached the highest level in history under the strategic leadership of the presidents of the two countries, said the Chinese official.
Both sides should implement the consensuses of the two heads of state, strengthen strategic cooperation in multilateral areas and resolutely protect their fundamental interests, Zhang said.
Vershinin said Russia believes unilateralism is unacceptable as it goes against the principles of the UN Charter.
He said Russia is willing to strengthen coordination with China at all levels to support multilateralism, maintain the status of the UN and its Security Council, and safeguard international law and the norms of international relations.
