Spurned by the West, Russia ally Belarus is courting China

Belarus, which has been seeking closer economic ties with China, is often portrayed as a loyal ally of Russia even though its strongman president, the 70-year-old Alexander Lukashenko, has a history of fluctuating relations with the Kremlin, including feuds with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

These days, Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994, seems increasingly focused on dealings with China, hardly missing an opportunity to praise the country and its leadership.

As far back as in 2016, Lukashenko declared in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping that Belarus would be “a reliable friend of China forever”. In April 2019, he told Xi that Beijing “can always count on our support in any area”. In the years since, Lukashenko has referred to the friendship as “ironclad” and publicly supported China’s global initiatives. Why the rhetoric?

It is no secret Lukashenko and Putin do not particularly like each other. Lukashenko is believed to have had much better relations with the late Russian leader Boris Yeltsin. In 2020, just days before his controversial election, Lukashenko said in an interview that Yeltsin deeply regretted choosing Putin as his successor. This came after Belarus caught what Lukashenko said were Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group planning a terrorist attack.