China will welcome the leader of Russian ally Belarus for a state visit this week as the US again warned Beijing against supplying Moscow with weapons for its war in Ukraine.
(Bloomberg) — China will welcome the leader of Russian ally Belarus for a state visit this week as the US again warned Beijing against supplying Moscow with weapons for its war in Ukraine.
Alexander Lukashenko will visit Beijing from Tuesday to Thursday, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Russia and Belarus have strong military ties, highlighted by Moscow launching parts of its attack on Ukraine a year ago from its smaller neighbor’s territory.
The announcement of the trip coincides with renewed China-US tensions over the issue of arming Russia. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday that if the nation “goes down that road, it will come at real costs to China.” He reiterated the Biden administration doesn’t have evidence that China is giving “lethal support” for President Vladimir Putin’s war.
President Joe Biden vowed on Friday the US would “impose severe sanctions on anyone who has done that,” although he also said: “I don’t anticipate a major initiative on the part of China providing weaponry to Russia.”
Read: Biden Does Not Anticipate China Giving Russia Major Weapons Aid
Sullivan also raised the possibility of the first talks between Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping since the US earlier this month shot down what it said was a Chinese spy balloon, saying he anticipated they’d “speak at some point in the not too distant future.”
The uproar over the balloon, which China has said was a civilian weather airship blown off course, sent ties plummeting between the world’s two biggest economies, undoing an improvement started when Xi and Biden met in Indonesia in November.
The relations have also been tested recently by the weapons issue and Beijing’s ties to Moscow as the war in Ukraine moves into its second year. Earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had evidence that China was considering helping arm Russia, a claim dismissed by Beijing.
Also: China Cease-Fire Proposal for Ukraine Falls Flat With US, Allies
China on Friday called for a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine, but its 12-point proposal gained little international support. Several of the measures outlined would, if carried out, favor Russia. Sullivan later said the plan should have ended after the first bullet point, which called for “respecting the sovereignty of all countries.”
US officials have previously criticized China for attempting to portray itself as a neutral party in the conflict while giving Moscow what the US alleges is diplomatic, economic and propaganda support.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy responded to the cease-fire proposal by saying he hoped China would stand with his country, on the side of “just peace.”
“I strongly believe that China will not supply weapons to the Russian Federation,” he added. “For me it is important, for me it is the No. 1 point. I’ll do everything to prevent this.”
Xi has not spoken to Zelenskiy since the war began despite requests from the Ukrainian leader for discussions.
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