The joint call came in a meeting in Beijing between Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
That amounted to an endorsement of a Chinese 12-point peace proposal issued Friday that calls for the territorial integrity of all countries to be respected. The proposal does not say what would happen to the regions Russia has occupied since the invasion or give details on how the grinding of the peace processor should proceed, and has failed to gain much support.
"The core of China's stance is to call for peace and encourage talks ... and for the legitimate security concerns of all countries to be respected," Xi was quoted as saying by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
In a clear reference to the U.S. and its allies, he added, "Relevant countries should stop politicizing and using the world economy as their tool, and take measures that truly advance a cease-fire and stop to war and resolve the crisis peacefully."
Belarus "fully agrees with and supports China's position and proposals on a political solution to the Ukraine crisis, which is of great significance to resolving the crisis," CCTV quoted Lukashenko as saying.
China has long had a close relationship with Lukashenko, and following their talks, the two leaders oversaw the signing of a raft of cooperation agreements in areas ranging from agriculture to customs enforcement and sports.
However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday...
the Belarussian leader's trip also illustrates the depth of Beijing's ties to Russian leader Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances...and his allies.
China says it is a neutral party in the conflict and has maintained contacts with the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has cautiously welcomed Beijing's involvement, but said success would depend on actions not words.