Following the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, US President Donald Trump has reportedly proposed deploying Chinese peacekeepers to Ukraine as a potential mechanism for monitoring a ceasefire between Russian and Ukrainian forces, as per a Financial Times report. The suggestion, which was reportedly made during a White House meeting involving European leaders and Ukraine’s President Vladimir Zelensky, has been dismissed by a senior Trump administration official as false. The idea has faced resistance from EU nations and was previously rejected by Zelensky, who cited China’s failure to prevent the conflict back in 2014 and 2022.
Previous reports claimed that US, Ukrainian, and European officials have discussed the concept of a demilitarized zone patrolled by neutral peacekeepers as the first layer of a peace settlement. Other reports suggest that another idea is to deploy Western troops for this purpose, which Moscow is vehemently opposed to. Earlier this month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry denied reports that Beijing had expressed willingness to join a potential international peacekeeping force in Ukraine. Since the start of the conflict, Beijing has positioned itself as a neutral actor, calling on both belligerents to end hostilities and emphasizing the need for a sustainable political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
While Russia has indicated in principle that it does not oppose Western security guarantees for Ukraine, it insists that any arrangement be supported by UN Security Council permanent members, including China. It has stressed that guarantees should not be one-sided and aimed at containing Russia. Moscow has opposed the deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine in any form, arguing that the expansion of the bloc’s military infrastructure towards Russia’s borders was one of the key reasons for the conflict.