Lukashenko arrives in Beijing as considerations rise round China-Russia relations

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived in Beijing on Tuesday as a part of a scheduled go to the place Belarus and China will look to extend their ties.

The Belarus state-run media outlet Belarusian Telegraph Company reported that Lukashenko will meet with Chinese language President Xi Jinping to debate points like commerce, the financial system, funding, humanitarian cooperation and responding to worldwide “challenges.” The 2 international locations are additionally anticipated to signal a doc to declare cooperation in “key areas.”

The go to comes as China has confronted some worldwide scrutiny over its ties to Moscow amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China has formally declared neutrality within the battle, however U.S. officers have stated China has despatched Russia nonlethal support and may additionally ship deadly support.

China has denied that it’s actively supporting Russia, and U.S. officers have warned the Chinese language authorities that it’s going to face penalties if it does ship deadly support.

Beijing additionally put ahead a ceasefire proposal earlier this month to finish hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated he’s no less than considerably open to.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Tuesday throughout a go to to Kazakhstan that China can’t be looking for to each assist Russia and prepare a deal for peace within the area, CNN reported.

“China can’t have it each methods on the subject of … the Russian aggression in Ukraine. It will possibly’t be placing ahead peace proposals on the one hand, whereas truly feeding the flames of the fireplace that Russia has began with the opposite hand,” Blinken stated.

Lukashenko has additionally been some of the vocal defenders from the worldwide neighborhood of Russian President Vladimir Putin, having been a detailed ally of Putin for a few years. He has additionally maintained shut relations with China.

The Belarusian authorities allowed Russian troops to assemble in its territory forward of the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine final February.

The New York Occasions reported that Lukashenko instructed reporters that the USA is attempting to rally anti-Chinese language attitudes in Europe.

“We perceive that the People are pushing Europe to go down the anti-Chinese language path,” he stated on Belarusian state media. “Europe is resisting — and rightly so, as a result of in the event that they fence themselves off from China, and God forbid additionally they come into battle with China as America can be urgent — Europe will disappear.”

State Division spokesperson Ned Worth stated at a press briefing on Monday forward of Lukashenko’s arrival that the go to is “very a lot in line” with the considerations that U.S. officers have had concerning the relationship between China and Russia.

“However the truth that the [People’s Republic of China] is now partaking with Lukashenka, who has, in impact, ceded his personal sovereignty to Russia, is simply one other component of the PRC’s deepening engagement with Russia, with all of those that are engaged with and supporting Russia’s brutal battle in opposition to Ukraine,” he stated.