Moscow, February 25. Belarusian President Alexandr Lukashenko will travel to China next Tuesday for a state visit that will last until March 2, the official Belarusian BELTA news agency reported today.
During his talks with the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, the Belarusian President will discuss the development of bilateral economic and trade relations, investment projects, as well as “interaction in the political sphere”.
According to BELTA, the two leaders will also discuss the “most serious challenges of the current international situation”.
Belarus is Russia’s main backer in its military campaign in Ukraine, but its armed forces are not directly involved in the conflict.
This Friday, the foreign ministers of Belarus and China, Sergei Aleynik and Qin Gang, underlined during a telephone conversation their support for peace negotiations in Ukraine as the only way to resolve the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
China yesterday presented a document for a “political solution to the crisis in Ukraine”, which includes among its twelve points respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries, a ceasefire, peace talks , the cessation of “unilateral sanctions”, but does not specifically provide for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
Since the outbreak of the conflict, which is now entering its second year, Beijing has avoided condemning Russia for its military campaign in Ukraine and has accused NATO and the United States of being behind it for “disregarding the legitimate security concerns” in Moscow. ECE
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