Chinese President Xi welcomes Belarusian leader Lukashenko as countries hail partnership

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When China put forward a proposal last week to end the war in Ukraine, that country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said he would welcome a meeting to discuss it with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two men have not spoken since Russia launched its invasion more than a year ago, even though Mr. Xi has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin several times.

So far, Mr. Zelensky’s entreaties have gone unanswered. Instead, Mr. Xi welcomed Belarusian President – and key Putin ally – Alexander Lukashenko in Beijing Wednesday, where the two men promised to support each other’s “core interests, oppose interference by external forces in internal affairs and safeguard the sovereignty and political security of the two countries.”

Belarus and China agreed to upgrade their ties to an “all-weather, comprehensive strategic partnership” during a meeting of the Chinese-led Shanghai Co-operation Organization in Uzbekistan last year, where Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin also met for the first time since the Ukraine invasion.

Mr. Lukashenko has been highly supportive of Mr. Putin’s war, allowing Russian forces to attack Ukraine across the Belarusian border. In Beijing he said he approved of China’s 12-point proposal to end the conflict.

“The Belarusian side fully agrees with and supports China’s position and proposition on a political solution to the Ukrainian crisis, which is of great significance to resolving the crisis,” he said, according to Chinese state media.

That proposal, which did not call on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine, has been criticized as insufficient by Western governments. When it was put forward, China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, was in Moscow meeting with Mr. Putin, a visit framed by the Kremlin as a show of solidarity.

“China doesn’t have much credibility because they have not been able to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine,” said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg after the Chinese proposal was released.

Washington has accused China of planning to go beyond mere tacit support for Russia by providing weapons to the Kremlin. U.S. President Joe Biden has played down the likelihood of this actually happening, but the State Department continues to maintain that China is “contemplating providing lethal assistance” to Russia, which has struggled in the face of Ukraine’s fierce resistance and support from the West.

The U.S. “will not hesitate to target Chinese companies or individuals that violate our sanctions or otherwise engage in supporting the Russian war effort,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week.

The State Department described the meeting between Mr. Xi and Mr. Lukashenko as “just another example” of China’s “deepening engagement with Russia, with all of those who are engaged with and supporting Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine.”

In an editorial Tuesday, the Chinese state-run Global Times said criticism of Mr. Lukashenko’s visit was an example of the West’s “petty-minded sensitivity.”

“If the two countries strengthen communication on the Ukraine issue, it will obviously be helpful to resolve the crisis, rather than adding fuel to it like some major powers have done,” the paper said.