President Xi Jinping said China will hold a military parade to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II on Sept. 3, an event that’s expected to bring his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to Beijing.

BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping praised Belarus as a true friend of China as he met Alexander Lukashenko, the leader of the sanctions-hit European nation, on Wednesday and urged the Russian ally to join Beijing in opposing "hegemony and bullying".

Trump "is obsessed with having a call with Xi," according to a news outlet, but China's leader would want assurances, an expert told Newsweek.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with his Belarusian counterpart in Beijing, as they look forward to deepening strategic partnership through cooperation.

But analysts say that Xi is less inclined to approach deals via a call. “Donald Trump’s way” of “pick [ing] up the phone … to resolve issues,” Pang Zhongying, a former visiting senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore, told the South China Morning Post in February, is not the “Chinese way.”

During a state visit to Beijing, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko rallied behind China.

Xu Qiliang, a former air force general who was reportedly close to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, has died at age 75, according to the Defense MInistry

The U.S.-China tariff conflict continues to escalate as China denies any plans for a phone call between President Xi Jinping and President Trump, contradicting White House claims. With trade tensions rising after Trump’s global tariffs and accusations of China violating agreements,