Xi backs Belarus sovereignty in Beijing meeting with Lukashenko

Xi Jinping used a meeting at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse to publicly back Belarus’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, giving Alexander Lukashenko a conspicuous display of support as Minsk remains bound to Moscow’s war effort. The timing mattered: Lukashenko had met Vladimir Putin the previous week before traveling to China, a sequence that underscored how Belarus sits inside the wider contest over Russia, Ukraine and Europe.

Chinese state media said Xi called on China and Belarus to maintain strategic communication and keep advancing bilateral relations at a high level. The Belarusian presidential Telegram channel, Pul Pervogo, said Xi described ties as being at their “historic peak,” while Lukashenko replied that Beijing felt “like going home.” The language was warm, but the message was also political: Beijing was signaling that it wants to be seen as defending state sovereignty while keeping one of Moscow’s closest allies close.

That balance matters because Belarus is not a peripheral partner. It became the 10th member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in July 2024, after serving as a dialogue partner since 2010 and an observer since 2015. Belarusian and Chinese officials also signed cooperation agreements in August 2024 covering trade, investment, industrial cooperation, science and technology, giving the relationship a more durable institutional and economic base inside a Eurasian framework shaped heavily by China and Russia.

The commercial side has kept pace with the politics. Reuters-linked reporting in 2025 said Belarus-China mutual trade was about $8.6 billion in 2024, and Belarusian exports reportedly rose in early 2025. That kind of trade volume is not transformative for China, but it gives Beijing practical leverage and a reason to preserve a stable line to Minsk even as Europe watches the relationship more closely.

The geopolitical message reaches beyond bilateral symbolism. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy believes Putin is trying to push Lukashenko to increase support for Russia in the war, making Belarus a continuing pressure point on Ukraine’s northern flank. By publicly backing Belarus on sovereignty while deepening ties with Lukashenko, Xi showed that Beijing is not simply offering courtesy to a visiting leader. It is staking out room to maneuver between Moscow and Europe, and doing so in front of both audiences.