Putin Ali, President of Belarus visits China to meet Xi Jinping

Alexander Lukashenko arrives in China where he will meet Xi Jinping – Photo: BelTA/Maxim Guchek/Reuters

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived in Beijing on Tuesday (28) for a three-day visit, during which he will meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

“President Alexander Lukashenko has arrived in China on a state visit,” state-run Belta news agency reported.

Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is visiting him a few days after China published a peace proposal to Ukraine, in which it said it was neutral in the face of the conflict, and called for dialogue between the two parties.

The visit comes amid pressure on China after US and NATO officials said Beijing is considering sending weapons to Russiain order to support his invasion of Ukraine.

In an interview with the official Chinese news agency Xinhua, the Belarusian leader said he was looking forward to meeting his “old friend” Xi Jinping.

Lukashenko, who supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, hailed the Chinese proposal as “a testament to its peaceful foreign policy”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during a meeting in Sochi, Russia, in September 2022. – Image: Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via Reuters

“Today, no problem in the world can be solved without China,” Lukashenko said in an interview with Xinhua.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Xi has spoken with Putin on several occasions, but not with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky.

Belarus is located on the border of Ukraine and Russia. a year ago, It allowed Russian forces to use its territory to invade Ukraine from the north.

In September last year, Xi and Lukashenko held another meeting in the Uzbek city of Samarkand. At the meeting, they celebrate their bilateral relationship.