25 Feb. () –
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will visit China on an official trip from February 28 to March 2 and will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to the authorities of both countries.
“The visit will contribute to a journey of several years of building relations of friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation with the People’s Republic of China”, highlighted the Belarusian Presidency in a statement collected by the official news agency, BelTA.
Lukashenko and Xi agreed as early as September 2022 at a bilateral meeting during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit that they would elevate their relationship to a new level of “unconditional strategic partnership.”
In the new trip of the Ukrainian leader, the achievements obtained since then will be addressed and measures will be studied to take advantage of the potential of this new relationship, focusing on areas such as trade, economics, investment and humanitarian cooperation.
They will also deal with large-scale projects, collaboration in the political sphere and response to the main current challenges at the international level. After the meeting, a series of bilateral agreements will be signed.
A spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hua Chunying, has confirmed Lukashenko’s state visit at the invitation of Xi, according to official Chinese media.
MACRON’S VISIT
Also this Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he will visit China “at the beginning of April” after asking Beijing to try to convince Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
The French president has asked the Chinese authorities, who have presented a peace initiative to end the conflict, to exert “pressure” on Moscow to stop “Russian aggression and build peace”, according to statements made at an agricultural forum collected for ‘Le Figaro’.
“Peace will only be possible through the end of Russian aggression, its withdrawal of troops and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Ukrainian people,” added the president.
The Chinese peace initiative was this past Friday the object of skepticism by the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, who actually considers it as a mere “proposal”.
Zelensky recalled that China is a country close to Russia that has criticized international sanctions against Moscow, although he welcomed the fact that Beijing — it should be noted that the Chinese government has denounced Russian territorial aggression — is finally talking about the conflict in Ukraine.
