China President Xi Jinping and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko sealed a series of agreements on Wednesday to build up an "all weather" partnership between their countries, against the background of the war in Ukraine.
Their meeting in Beijing brought together two of the foreign leaders on whom Russian President Vladimir Putin is most reliant for support as his army struggles to achieve the goals of its year-old invasion.
In televised comments, Xi said China was keen to strengthen trust and cooperation with Belarus "given the instability and turbulence of the international situation".
Lukashenko said the meeting was taking place "in a very complicated time which demands new unorthodox approaches and responsible political decisions. They must be primarily aimed at the prevention of an uncontrolled descent into a global confrontation which has no winners."
He said Xi had "clearly, definitively, pointedly declared this to the international community" - a reference to a 12-point paper released by China last week in which it called for a comprehensive ceasefire in Ukraine.
"This is why Belarus has been actively putting forward its peace proposals, and comprehensively supports your incentive on international security," Lukashenko added.
The two countries signed a range of cooperation documents in economy and trade, industry, agriculture, science and technology, health, tourism and sports, Xinhua News reported.
The Belarusian economy ministry said one of the agreements was on the planned creation this year of a free trade and investment zone. With a population of just 9.3 million, Belarus has a tiny economy compared to China's but is a major producer of fertilizer.
Beijing has become increasingly vocal in calling for peace as the Ukraine conflict drags on, and denied it would provide arms to Moscow after US officials said China was considering doing so.
Lukashenko allowed Putin to launch his initial invasion from Belarusian territory and has let Russia train newly mobilized soldiers at Belarusian bases, while saying he will not enter the war directly unless his country is attacked by Ukraine.
In September last year, Xi and Lukashenko announced an "all-weather" strategic partnership, in a step-up in bilateral ties. China signed a "no limits" partnership with Russia just weeks before Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year.
