China’s defence chief Li Shangfu heads to Russia, Belarus on 6-day trip

Li will attend the Moscow Conference on International Security and will also travel to Belarus during the six-day trip, according to defence ministry spokesman Colonel Wu Qian.

He said Li would give a speech at the Moscow conference and meet the Russian and other countries’ defence chiefs.

“During his visit to Belarus, he will meet and hold talks with Belarusian state and military leaders, and visit Belarusian military units,” Wu said.

It is Li’s second visit to Russia since he became defence minister in March. He will meet his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, for the third time – the pair met twice in April, in Moscow and New Delhi.

02:46

Putin meets China’s new defence chief in Moscow, hails military cooperation

Putin meets China’s new defence chief in Moscow, hails military cooperation

In Moscow, Li and Shoigu pledged to promote cooperation between the two armed forces, including on military technology, and to support each nation’s “core interests”.

Li also met Russian navy chief Nikolai Yevmenov in Beijing last month, discussing naval cooperation between the two countries.

The Chinese defence chief has yet to officially meet his US counterpart Lloyd Austin.

China and Russia have held at least 45 joint military drills in the decade from 2012 – the highest number yet. Twenty of them were bilateral exercises.

01:42

China and Russia host joint navy exercises in Sea of Japan to deepen military cooperation

China and Russia host joint navy exercises in Sea of Japan to deepen military cooperation

Meanwhile, Li’s visit to Belarus marks the first by a Chinese defence minister in five years, and the first since Russia began its aggression in Ukraine in February last year.

It follows Russia’s deployment of nuclear weapons to Belarus, and comes as China is attempting to play a mediation role in the Ukraine conflict.

In June, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country had started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear arms after Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s announcement in March that Moscow and Minsk had agreed on the deployment of such weapons in Belarus.

It is the first time Russia has moved warheads like these – shorter-range, less powerful nuclear weapons that could potentially be used on the battlefield – outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.

Why Russia wants tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

Commenting on the move in March, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought”, stressing the importance of reducing strategic risks.

“Under the current circumstances, all sides need to focus on making diplomatic efforts towards a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis and work together for de-escalation,” Mao said.

Beijing has sought to present itself as a peace broker in the war. Earlier this month, Beijing sent Li Hui, the special envoy for Eurasian affairs, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for international talks on the peaceful settlement of the conflict. Russia was not invited, and participants agreed that respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity should be the core of future Russia-Ukraine peace talks.