On the night of July 24, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson and Director General of the MFA Information Department Hua Chunying held consultations via videolink with Russian foreign ministry spokesperson and Director of the Information and Press Department of Russia's foreign ministry Maria Zakharova.

Both sides agreed that against the backdrop of the on-going pandemic, certain countries, out of ideological bias and political needs, have been spreading disinformation, distorting history, attacking other countries' social systems and development paths, politicizing the pandemic, pinning labels on the virus, and restricted and oppressed foreign media for doing their job. Such acts have severely poisoned the atmosphere of global public opinion, obstructed international cooperation against the virus, and set obstacles to mutual understanding among people from different countries.

The two sides stressed that disinformation is a common enemy of the international community. Countries should strengthen solidarity and coordination, jointly reject disinformation so that political viruses such as rumors and slanders and the perpetrators and manipulators behind the scene will have no place to hide. When it comes to information release, facts should be respected. Countries should not adopt double standards, interfere in others' internal affairs or level groundless accusations on other countries' political system, development path and state governance based on ideology and political prejudice.

Both sides noted that as responsible major countries and comprehensive strategic partners of coordination, China and Russia will strengthen communication, jointly combat disinformation, offer an accurate account of facts and truth, champion justice and legal principles, and uphold morality and conscience.