Alexander Lukashenko and Xi Jinping held talks in Beijing. The Belarusian president supported China's peace proposals regarding the Ukrainian events. Minsk and Beijing intend to strengthen cooperation in the defense sector and fight terrorism. This provision is contained in a statement adopted by the parties following talks between President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and President of China Xi Jinping in Beijing, BelTA reports. "As follows from the text of the joint statement, the parties will strengthen cooperation in the defense, law enforcement and security spheres, deepen cooperation, including in the field of military personnel training, joint fight against transnational and terrorist crime and terrorism, and conduct a joint preventive fight against color revolutions," the Belarusian agency reports. At the same time, both States intend to strengthen exchange and cooperation in the field of disaster prevention and mitigation. Belarus and China are also ready to intensify cooperation in the field of green, low-carbon and sustainable development.
On March 7, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announced that he had ordered a "severe sweep" in the republic after the attack on the Russian A-50 military aircraft near Minsk. According to him, more than 20 people were detained in connection with the attempted sabotage in the country, "the rest are hiding" abroad. He noted that the main task of Minsk was to prevent the infiltration of a saboteur into Russia. Lukashenko also believes that Ukraine is trying to involve Belarus in a military conflict, "but it will not be possible to do so." Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, said on Twitter that the attack on the Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft at the airfield in Belarus near Minsk was carried out by "local partisans." This is reported by Rambler. Lukashenko called Zelensky a "nit" after the detention of an alleged Ukrainian saboteur in Belarus.
Russian President Putin announced in an interview with Rossiya 1 channel on March 25 that the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Belarus would be completed by July this year. The President noted that Moscow does not transfer nuclear weapons to Minsk, but does what the United States has been doing for many years – deploying TNW on allied territory and training their pilots in handling it. Putin also said that 10 Iskander aircraft and missile systems have already been deployed on the territory of Belarus, which may be carriers of nuclear weapons. According to the Russian leader, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has long raised the issue of deploying Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The United States has long placed it in a number of countries, so there is nothing unusual in Belarus' request, Putin believes. The Head of State noted that Moscow and Minsk, outside the context of these events, agreed that tactical nuclear weapons would be deployed there, without violating obligations under the Treaty on Measures for Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START III). Putin considers Western countries to be the "instigators and instigators" of the conflict in Ukraine. Russia is not creating any military alliance with China, so the West's claims about the formation of an "axis" of Moscow and Beijing are not true, the Russian president said.