Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel during a signing ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow on November 2, 2018. (AFP Photo)

MOSCOW, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel signed a joint statement on Friday on maintaining and strengthening their cooperation in international affairs.

"The joint statement we have just signed confirmed the strategic and allied nature of the relations between our countries," Putin told a press briefing following talks with the Cuban president.

The two leaders emphasized the importance of efforts aimed at ensuring international peace and security, sustainable development and respect for human rights.

Russia and Cuba share the belief in a more multi-polar world, one that reflects a variety of political, socio-economic and cultural systems, the statement said.

Putin and Diaz-Canel condemned unilateral coercive measures in international relations and oppose the use of such measures to change legitimate governments, including through economic strangulation.

They also criticized the refusal of some countries to observe international legal obligations, including those under the World Trade Organization, the Iran nuclear deal, and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

They categorically rejected Washington's practice of "interference in internal affairs of sovereign nations" that have the right to choose their political, economic and social systems and determine their own development model.

Moscow and Havana agreed to cooperate in counter-terrorism and the fight against cross-border organized crimes.

Russia and Cuba welcomed the adoption of a non-binding UN resolution calling for the lifting of the U.S. embargo against Cuba on Thursday, which reaffirmed the near unanimous rejection by the international community of Washington's discriminatory policy, the statement said.