Putin ally Alexander Lukashenko will head to China for state visit next week amid fears Xi Jinping will supply Russian war machine with weapons in Ukraine and spark ‘World War III’
- Lukashenko has backed Putin’s order for a year-long invasion of Ukraine
- Rishi Sunak recently warned China not to support ‘brutal’ Russian forces
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will visit China next week for a state visit amid growing fears Xi Jinping will supply Russia with weapons to strengthen its position in Ukraine and spark ‘World War III’.
Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has backed Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, with Belarus dependent on its neighbour both financially and politically.
Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang told his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleinik that Beijing is willing to work with Minsk to deepen mutual political trust, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement today.
It comes as last week, Rishi Sunak warned China not to support Vladimir Putin’s ‘brutal and illegal’ war in Ukraine after American intelligence suggested Beijing was considering supplying arms to Russia.
China has so far offered only diplomatic support to Russia and strongly denied the US claims, accusing Western nations of adding ‘fuel to the fire’ over the war.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (left), who is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin (right), will visit China next week for a state visit
China’s President Xi Jinping (pictured) has so far offered only diplomatic support to Russia but there are growing fears he wants to supply the country with weapons
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said last week he feared such a move from Xi Jinping would cause ‘a world war’ and demanded Beijing make a ‘pragmatic assessment’ of a potential alliance with Russia.
Yesterday – on the one-year anniversary of Russia invading Ukraine – China called for a comprehensive ceasefire, which was met with scepticism in Ukraine and the West.
Its 12-point plan urged all parties to ‘support Russia and Ukraine in working in the same direction and resuming direct dialogue as quickly as possible’.
In the paper Beijing called for an end to Western sanctions, negotiations which would likely see Ukraine ceding territory, a NATO pull-back from its eastern borders and reconstruction efforts that would probably benefit Chinese contractors.
China will also continue to support Belarus in maintaining its national stability, and will oppose attempts by ‘external forces’ to interfere in its internal affairs or impose ‘illegal’ unilateral sanctions on Minsk, Qin told Aleinik.
In September last year, Xi and Lukashenko announced an ‘all-weather’ strategic partnership, when the two met in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.
Belarus, which shares a border with Ukraine and Russia, allowed Moscow to use its territory to launch its attack on Ukraine last year and Kyiv has expressed concerns that Belarus could again support Moscow in its war effort.
Last week American intelligence suggested Beijing was considering supplying arms to Russia. Pictured: Russian T-72B3 tanks fire at Ukrainian fortified positions in Ukraine
Pictured: A bus station damaged after a shelling, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine
Yesterday, to mark the first anniversary of the war, Zelensky hailed Ukraine and its people for fighting back against Russia and vowed victory.
‘We endured. We were not defeated. And we will do everything to gain victory this year!’ Zelensky said in a statement released on social media.
Hailing cities such as Bucha, Irpin and Mariupol as ‘capitals of invincibility’, he added: ‘Ukraine has inspired the world. Ukraine has united the world…
‘We will never rest until the Russian murderers face deserved punishment.
‘Ukraine has inspired the world. Ukraine has united the world,’ in a ‘furious year of invincibility,’ he said. ‘We will never rest until the Russian murderers face deserved punishment,’ he said.
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