Belarus leader and Putin ally Lukashenko to visit China

U.S. concerns grow that China is considering providing military aid to Russia

Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus and a close ally of the Russian leader, will visit Beijing this week, China's Foreign Ministry said, as U.S. concerns grow that China is considering providing military aid to Russia.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying said Mr. Lukashenko is due to visit Tuesday through Thursday, but gave no details about his agenda.

Belarus has strongly backed Moscow and allowed its territory to be used as a staging ground for the initial invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

Mr. Lukashenko has been Belarus' only President since the position was created in 1994, and crushed 2020 protests over his disputed reelection in a vote that the opposition and Western countries regard as fraudulent.

The visit comes as top U.S. officials repeated warnings to China against providing military aid to Russia in its war on Ukraine, saying that would bring heavy consequences.

CIA Director William Burns repeated those earlier statements in an interview due to be broadcast on American channel CBS on Sunday, saying, “We're confident that the Chinese leadership is considering the provision of lethal equipment."

However, Mr. Burns added, “We also don't see that a final decision has been made yet, and we don't see evidence of actual shipments of lethal equipment.”