MINSK, September 25. /TASS/. Belarus's Foreign Ministry announced the start of negotiations to draft the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century.

"Negotiations have begun on drafting the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century," the ministry said on Telegram.

According to its press service, a ministerial meeting during the high-level week of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly marked the start of the process. Belarusian Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov co-chaired the meeting. In their remarks, the two ministers said negotiating the charter's text would help build trust and identify common approaches to security challenges across Eurasia, taking into account the interests of all states involved.

"The charter is intended to establish principles for cooperation between states on security across Eurasia in an era of multipolarity. These include equality, the indivisibility of security and the responsibility of countries in the region for addressing regional security challenges. It is also intended to lay the foundation for a new architecture of international relations. The ministers stressed that the charter aims to strengthen economic cooperation and connectivity, develop humanitarian ties, support dialogue between civilizations and create mechanisms for equal participation in decisions affecting Eurasian countries and peoples," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry said.

Representatives of various Eurasian countries attended the meeting, the press service noted. Participants welcomed the joint Belarusian-Russian initiative and expressed their countries' interest in the forthcoming negotiations. The ministers adopted a joint statement launching talks on the charter and approved the rules of procedure for the group tasked with drafting it.