Belarusian president visits fellow Russia ally Zimbabwe

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived in Harare to pomp and fanfare on Monday (30 January) for a two-day visit and talks with his Zimbabwean counterpart, Emmerson Mnangagwa, aimed at cementing economic and political ties between the two countries that are both close allies of Russia.
Mnangagwa and hundreds of singing and cheering ruling party supporters welcomed Lukashenko at the main Robert Gabriel Mugabe airport in the capital. The two countries are close allies of Russia, with Belarus having backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Zimbabwe having claimed neutrality and refusing to condemn Moscow. The two leaders plan to meet on Tuesday (31 January) for talks aimed at boosting “strong cooperation in political, economic, mining, agriculture and disaster risk management,” Zimbabwe’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The visit is historic, as it is the first such undertaking to a sub-Saharan African nation, by President Lukashenko,” the statement added.
Belarus has provided Zimbabwe with farm equipment such as tractors, combine harvesters and trucks under a deal worth tens of millions of dollars following Mnangagwa’s visit to the Belarusian capital Minsk in 2019. Mnangagwa and Lukashenko have repeatedly been accused by rivals and the West of being corrupt and using arrests and other forms of harassment to stifle dissent and remain in power in their countries, accusations that both leaders have denied.