Belarusian leader and Putin ally Alexander Lukashenko to visit China next week
25 February 2023, 09:10 | Updated: 25 February 2023, 09:13
Belarusian President and staunch Putin ally Alexander Lukashenko will pay a state visit to China next week.
His trip, which comes amid concern from Ukraine that Belarus could become more involved in the war, will take place from 28 February to 2 March, the Chinese foreign ministry has announced.
The announcement comes after Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang said on Friday that his country would be open to working with Belarus to deepen mutual political trust.
In a phone call with his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleinik, Mr Qin said China would support the country in maintaining its national stability, and will oppose any external interference in its internal affairs.
In September last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mr Lukashenko announced an "all-weather" comprehensive strategic partnership, stepping up their bilateral ties.
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Belarus was used by Vladimir Putin as a launchpad for the invasion, and there is mounting concern from Ukraine that it could become more involved in the conflict as an ally of Russia.
Western countries have warned China against supplying Russia with arms, amid fears that Beijing is planning to support Moscow in the conflict.
The announcement of Mr Lukashenko's visit comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnkyy said he plans to meet with Xi Jinping to discuss Beijing’s calls for peace talks to end the war in Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, on the first anniversary of Russia's invasion, Mr Zelenskyy said: “I am planning to meet with Xi Jinping.”
He said: “I really want to believe that China will not supply weapons to Russia. This will be important for world security.”
“China has shown its thoughts. I believe that the fact that China started talking about Ukraine is not bad,” he added.
China offered a 12-point peace proposal to halt the conflict in Ukraine warning against the use of nuclear weapons set out in a foreign ministry paper.
Russia hailed China’s peace plan and said “we share Beijing’s views”.
China has refrained from condemning its ally Russia or referring to Russia's intervention in Ukraine as an invasion.
It has also criticised sanctions imposed by Western nations on Russia.
The paper read: "All parties must stay rational and exercise restraint, avoid fanning the flames and aggravating tensions, and prevent the crisis from deteriorating further or even spiralling out of control," the ministry said in its paper.
On Friday, US president Joe Biden dismissed China’s peace plan, adding there is “nothing in the plan that would indicate that there is something that would be beneficial to anyone other than Russia”.
Speaking to ABC News, Mr Biden said: “If Putin is applauding it, so how could it be any good? I’m not being facetious. I’m being deadly earnest.”
On Friday, Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki announced that it had delivered four Leopard tanks to Ukraine and said it was prepared to deliver more quickly.
