Beijing, March 2 (IANS) China and Belarus, the two allies of Russia, have expressed “extreme interest” in a peaceful solution to the ongoing Ukraine war, just a week after Beijing had announced a plan for peace talks, calling for the respect of national sovereignty.
The development comes after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko visited Beijing on Wednesday and met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the BBC reports.
According to a report by Belarusian state-run news agency Belta, the two nations “expressed deep concern” about the war and “extreme interest in the soonest possible establishment of peace in Ukraine”.
In a statement after their meeting, Lukashenko, who is known to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, also praised Beijing’s 12-point peace plan.
The plan urges respect for “the sovereignty of all countries” but does not specifically say Russia must withdraw its troops from Ukraine and condemns the usage of “unilateral sanctions”.
Lukashenko told Xi that he “fully supports the initiative on international security you have put forward”, according to remarks released by the Belarusian leader’s aides.
Political decisions “should be aimed at first and foremost preventing a slide into a global confrontation that will see no winners”, he further said.
On his part, President Xi called for discarding “all Cold War mentality”, the BBC quoted a Chinese readout of Wednesday’s meeting.
He added that countries “should stop politicising” the world economy and to “do things that will aid a ceasefire, cessation of war, and a peaceful resolution”.
Lukashenko’s visit comes days after China sent its top diplomat Wang Yi to meet Putin.
The meeting also coincided with a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Central Asian nations to discuss the Ukraine war.
–IANS
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