U.S. President Donald Trump proposed deploying Chinese troops as peacekeepers in post-war Ukraine, supporting a proposal first put forward by Vladimir Putin, reported the Financial Times.
According to sources, last week at a meeting with European leaders and the President of Ukraine at the White House, Trump proposed that China provide peacekeepers to monitor a neutral zone along the 1300-kilometer front line in Ukraine as part of a peace settlement with Russia. However, a senior Trump administration official called this information false, adding that «there was no discussion of Chinese peacekeepers».
European capitals oppose this idea, and it was previously rejected by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky due to Beijing's critical support of Russia's military actions.
«Why is China not involved in guarantees? Firstly, China did not help us stop this war from the beginning. Secondly, China helped Russia by opening the drone market», — stated Zelensky this month, reminding that China did not react to the annexation of Crimea.
In April, Zelensky accused China of supplying weapons to Russia and assisting in their production. He also stated that Beijing does nothing to stop Russia from recruiting Chinese citizens to fight in Ukraine, and provided evidence collected by Ukrainian intelligence that at least 155 such recruits were sent to the battlefield.
China stated that it is ready to play a «constructive role» in resolving the war after Russia recently proposed that Beijing become one of the security guarantors for Ukraine as part of a peace agreement. However, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated this week that media reports about Beijing's proposal to participate in peacekeeping forces in Ukraine «do not correspond to reality».
Photo: Reuters