JAKARTA - Chinese President Xi Jinping and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko called for an immediate peace agreement on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, during a Wednesday meeting in Beijing, the Belarusian state news agency Belta said.
It is a meeting of the two foreign leaders on whom Russian President Vladimir Putin has relied the most for support as his troops struggle to achieve the goals of a year-long invasion.
Belta said they issued a joint statement expressing "deep concern about the development of armed conflict in the European region, as well as a keen interest in bringing peace to Ukraine as soon as possible".
"Belarus and the PRC are interested in preventing the escalation of the crisis and are ready to make efforts to restore regional peace and order," the statement added in its report on the declaration, Reuters reported, March 2.
Beijing has recently been increasingly vocal in calling for peace, as the Ukraine conflict has dragged on, denying it will provide arms to Moscow, after US officials said the PRC was considering doing so.
Last week, the Chinese Government issued a 12-point paper calling for a comprehensive cease-fire in Ukraine, broadly summarizing China's previous stance and being met with skepticism in the West.
In televised comments, President Xi said China is looking to strengthen trust and cooperation with Belarus, "given the instability and turmoil of the international situation".
Meanwhile, President Lukashenko said the meeting took place "at a very delicate moment" and was necessary to prevent "an uncontrolled descent into a global confrontation with no winners".
He said President Xi, in his peace plan, had "clearly, definitively and unequivocally stated this to the international community.
"This is why Belarus is actively presenting its peace proposal, and comprehensively supporting your incentives in terms of international security," he praised President Xi.
VOIR éGALEMENT:
The summit resulted in a series of agreements, to strengthen the "all-weather" partnership agreed by the two countries last year.
The two leaders signed a number of cooperation documents in the fields of economy and trade, industry, agriculture, science and technology, health, tourism, and sports, Xinhua News reported.
Meanwhile, the Belarusian Ministry of Economy said one of the agreements signed was a plan to establish a free trade and investment zone this year.
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