The proposed deployment would involve troops in a neutral zone, designed to separate Russian and Ukrainian forces.
US President Donald Trump has put forth a proposal for the deployment of “Chinese peacekeepers” to Ukraine, intended to monitor a potential ceasefire between Russian and Ukrainian forces. This was reported by the Financial Times on Friday, citing individuals briefed on the ongoing discussions.
According to four sources from the FT, Trump suggested that China station troops in a potential neutral zone along the 1,300km front line, as a component of a broader peace settlement with Russia. This proposal was reportedly made during a meeting held at the White House last week, which included European leaders and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.
However, a senior official within the Trump administration dismissed the report as “false,” emphasizing that no discussions on this matter have taken place.
The concept has reportedly encountered resistance from EU nations and was previously rebuffed by Zelensky, who cited what he called Beijing’s failure to prevent the conflict in both 2014 and 2022.
Earlier reports asserted that US, Ukrainian, and European officials have discussed the concept of a demilitarized zone, to be patrolled by neutral peacekeepers, as the initial phase of a peace settlement. Other accounts suggested that an alternative idea involves deploying Western troops for this objective, a notion strongly opposed by Moscow.
Earlier this month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry refuted reports claiming that Beijing had expressed willingness to join a potential international peacekeeping force in Ukraine. Since the onset of the Ukraine conflict, Beijing has maintained a neutral stance, urging both warring parties to cease hostilities and underscoring the critical need for fostering a lasting political resolution to the Ukraine crisis.
While Russia has indicated, in principle, that it does not oppose Western security assurances for Ukraine, it insists that any such arrangement must receive backing from permanent members of the UN Security Council, including China. It has stated that such guarantees should not be “one-sided” and designed to contain Russia.
Moscow has voiced its opposition to the deployment of NATO troops in Ukraine under any circumstances, contending that the enlargement of the alliance’s military infrastructure towards Russia’s borders constituted a primary cause of the conflict.