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China’s defence chief Li Shangfu mounts Belarus military ties mission on trip to Russian ally
- Li promotes security cooperation in meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
- Trip comes amid broader strengthening in Beijing’s relations with Minsk and Moscow
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China and Russian ally Belarus are strengthening military ties, with Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko meeting on Thursday to advance the partnership.
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“The purpose of my visit to Belarus is the implementation of important agreements at the level of heads of state and further strengthening of bilateral military cooperation,” Li said, according to the Belarusian presidential office.
Military ties between the countries had been developing steadily, he said, and “fruitful” results had been achieved in strategic communication and joint training and exercises.
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“China is willing to work with Belarus to promote in-depth, pragmatic, mutually beneficial, and win-win cooperation between the two sides, so as to bring more benefits to the two peoples,” Li said, according to the Chinese defence ministry.
In a meeting with Belarusian defence chief Viktor Khrenin a day earlier, Li highlighted China’s “fraternal” relations with Belarus as the key to the developing military cooperation between the two countries.
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