The troops could be deployed in a neutral zone separating Russian and Ukrainian forces, according to the reported proposal
US President Donald Trump has proposed deploying “Chinese peacekeepers” to Ukraine to monitor a potential ceasefire between Russian and Ukrainian forces, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people briefed on the discussions.
According to four FT sources, Trump suggested that China station troops in a prospective neutral zone along the 1,300km front line as part of a peace settlement with Russia. The proposal was reportedly made during a meeting at the White House last week involving European leaders and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.
However, a senior Trump administration official dismissed the report as “false,” stressing that there has been no discussion on the matter.
The idea has reportedly met with resistance from EU nations and was previously rejected by Zelensky, who cited what he called Beijing’s failure to prevent the conflict both 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 Ukraine conflict, Beijing has positioned itself as a neutral actor, calling on both belligerents to end the hostilities and stressing that it is essential to promote 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.
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