Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has visited China. He met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
In that meeting, he talked about the Ukraine peace plan offered by China last week, according to the BBC.
Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, told Xi during the meeting that he had “full support” for China’s plan. He also praised China’s plan.
Although it has been silent about Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, China has recently increased its diplomatic activities after the end of this war.
Although the country claims to be neutral on the war, Beijing stands firmly by Moscow in various UN resolutions against Russia.
China has so far not condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, nor has it termed Moscow’s attacks on neighboring countries as ‘aggression’. They have also been strongly criticizing Western sanctions against Russia.
Now there are indications of increasing closeness between these two neighbors around the war in Ukraine.
Recently, a top Chinese diplomat visited Moscow and held a meeting with Putin. Now, Lukashenko’s visit to Beijing is an indication of China-Russia rapprochement.
On the anniversary of Russia’s attack on Ukraine on February 24, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a 12-point proposal to end the war, cease-fire and gradually reduce tensions.
While the resolution calls for peace talks to respect national sovereignty, it does not specifically state that Russia must withdraw all its troops from Ukraine.
They also criticized the ‘unilateral sanctions’ on Russia. Which is actually a criticism of Western allies of Ukraine.
“The first and foremost goal of political decisions should be to prevent a global conflict,” Xi Kay Lukashenko said of the plan. A conflict in which no one can win.”
On the other hand, in the meeting with Lukashenko, Xi called for abandoning the ‘all-embracing Cold War mentality’.
“All countries should stop politicizing the world economy,” he said. And actually doing things that will help in ceasefire, cessation of hostilities and peaceful resolution of crises.”
BBC reports that Lukashenko will stay in China for three days. China improved relations with Belarus in September last year, months after Ukraine started the war.