BEIJING: Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko will visit China on Feb 28 for a state visit, the Chinese foreign ministry said today.
“At the invitation of Chinese president Xi Jinping, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will pay a state visit to China from Feb 28 to March 2,” spokesperson Hua Chunying said.
Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin and has backed Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Belarus is dependent on its neighbour financially and politically.
China is willing to work with Belarus to deepen mutual political trust, Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang told his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleinik during a phone conversation on Friday, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.
In September last year, Xi and Lukashenko announced an “all-weather” strategic partnership, when the two met in the Uzbek capital Samarkand.