On March 1, Alexander Lukashenko met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, the Chinese capital.
A meeting between the formal leader of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and Chinese President Xi Jinping took place in Beijing today. The negotiation was one-on-one and lasted four hours.
The Belarusian leader’s visit to China comes amid growing tensions between the US and China in recent weeks, including Washington’s concerns that Beijing is considering sending lethal weapons to the Russian army. Note that China has denied these allegations.
Negotiation background
The meeting between Lukashenko and Xi came a day after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made one of the most direct comments about how the US would respond to “any lethal support that China provides to Russia .”
Blinken warned that Washington would target Chinese companies or citizens involved in any attempt to send “lethal aid to Russia” for its war in Ukraine. Later, he also said that he has no plans to meet with Russian or Chinese counterparts at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting to be held in New Delhi, India on March 2.
Beijing, which says it is neutral in the Ukraine war, has denied US accusations that it is considering sending arms to Russia. On Monday, China’s foreign ministry said Beijing was “firmly promoting peace talks and a political solution to the crisis” while the US was “throwing deadly weapons onto the battlefield in Ukraine.”
It will be recalled that last week China announced a “peace plan” of 12 points to resolve the war in Ukraine.
Xi about Ukraine
At today’s meeting, the Chinese leader confirmed to Lukashenka China’s position on the “peaceful settlement” of the Ukrainian issue.
“China’s main position is to promote peace and negotiation. We must follow the direction of a political settlement, reject the entire Cold War mentality, respect the legitimate security interests of all countries, and build a balanced, efficient and sustainable European security architecture,” he said.
Xi added that “related countries should stop politicizing and instrumentalizing the world economy and do what can help to stop the fighting and war and resolve the crisis peacefully.”
What Lukashenka said
The self-proclaimed leader of Belarus, in turn, said that Belarusians fully support Beijing’s “peace plan”.
“Today’s meeting is taking place at a very difficult time, which requires new, non-standard approaches and responsible political decisions. They must aim to prevent a slide into a global confrontation where no one wins,” he said.
“Recently you said it clearly, unambiguously, promptly, responding to the world community. So Belarus has proposals for peace and fully supports your international security initiative,” added Lukashenka.
It should be noted that the Belarusian leader also met with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang today. The two countries agreed to “strengthen” their relationship.
“We do not have closed topics for cooperation. We cooperate in all areas. Most importantly, we do not set ourselves the task of being friends or working against third countries,” said Lukashenka Li.
US position
The meeting between the leaders of Belarus and China was criticized by Western leaders who accused China of siding with Russia.
In response to the meeting between Xi and Lukashenko, Blinken said that China “cannot have both” while “publicly positioning itself as a force for peace” while it “continues to fan this fire that ignited by Vladimir Putin.”
He added that there were “some positive elements” in China’s peace proposal, but warned: “If China is really serious about this, the very first principle of sovereignty, it will work throughout the past year to support the restoration of Ukraine’s full sovereignty . . .
Blinken also accused China of acting contrary to peace support in Ukraine “in terms of its efforts to promote Russian propaganda and disinformation about blocking and waging war in the interests of the Russian Federation.”
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.