China has expressed its willingness to participate in peacekeeping forces for Ukraine, but only on the basis of a United Nations mandate.
This was reported by European diplomats to the German newspaper Welt, citing sources in the Chinese government.
In Brussels, Beijingʼs plan has received mixed reviews. On the one hand, the involvement of countries from the Global South, such as China, could increase the acceptability of deploying foreign troops to monitor the peace.
On the other hand, a senior European diplomat said that "there is also a risk that China in Ukraine will primarily seek to spy and, in the event of a conflict, will take a clearly pro-Russian position instead of a neutral one".
Another argument is that most EU countries, for various reasons, prefer not to grant potential peacekeepers a mandate at the UN level.
According to media reports, during a meeting with US President Donald Trump on August 15, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin named China as one of the countries that could provide security guarantees to Ukraine. However, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he does not see China among the future security guarantors.
Security guarantees for Ukraine
At the talks in Washington involving Trump, Zelensky, and a number of European leaders on August 18, the issue of Ukrainian security guarantees was key. In particular, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that the parties would begin by considering guarantees similar to those in Article 5 of the NATO Charter.
After the meeting, Trump wrote that the parties discussed what guarantees various European countries would provide under US coordination.
Zelensky reported a package of Ukrainian proposals for the purchase of American weapons worth $90 billion — they should become part of security guarantees.
Later, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that after the war, Ukraine would have the right to conclude security agreements not only with the United States and European countries. Washington is currently working on this.
The WSJ also reported that Rubio could lead a working group that would draft security guarantees for Ukraine. The group would consist of national security advisers and NATO representatives.
The security guarantees would include the following components: military presence, air defense, armaments, and monitoring of the cessation of hostilities.
Bloomberg sources also reported that about 10 countries are ready to send their forces to Ukraine as a security guarantee within the framework of a future peace agreement. In particular, the United Kingdom and France are ready to send hundreds of their soldiers, who will be stationed in Ukraine, but away from the front.
And Donald Trump stated on August 20 that Washington is ready to provide air support to Ukraine if a potential peace agreement with Russia is concluded.
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