Beijing is ready to send troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping mission, reports Welt am Sonntag, citing sources, noting that this news has met with mixed reactions in Europe, since China will do so only under certain conditions.

In Brussels, the Beijing plan, as stated, met with mixed reactions. On the one hand, it is said that the inclusion of Global South countries such as China could facilitate the adoption of foreign troop deployments to monitor peace. On the other hand,"there is also a risk that China will primarily want to spy in Ukraine and that, in the event of a conflict, it will take a clearly pro-Russian position instead of a neutral one," said a high-ranking EU diplomat familiar with the current discussions.

In addition, most EU countries are reluctant to advance a UN mandate to potential peacekeepers for various reasons. Italy, however, has been vigorously insisting on this for several months, the publication writes.

Zelensky rejected the calls

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's calls for China's participation.

"We will need security guarantees only from those countries that are ready to help us," he said.

Beijing, according to the publication, has supported Moscow since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, buying billions of dollars worth of oil and supplying electronic components for the production of high-precision weapons. In addition, the two countries maintain a partnership they describe as"borderless".

According to the West, security guarantees for Ukraine cover a wide range, not only military support in the event of an attack on the country, similar to the obligation to provide assistance under Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. This is evident from the G7 declaration from July 2023 and the"Common Security Obligations between the EU and Ukraine" from July 2024.

Accordingly, security guarantees include training of the Ukrainian armed forces, supply of weapons, assistance in the development of the defense industry, intelligence data, sanctions, economic cooperation and gradual accession of Ukraine to the EU, the publication writes.

"More than long-term military guarantees in the event of an attack - where Ukraine forms a reliable first line of defense, European and, if necessary, non-European countries form a second line of defense, and the United States, if necessary, provides air support as a third line of defense - Europeans are currently more interested in securing a possible ceasefire or peace agreement," the publication said.

Senior EU diplomats said that, unlike in the past, drones could primarily be used to monitor ceasefire compliance on the frontline.

What happens if the ceasefire is violated should be defined in the mandate. It is entirely possible that – as in the case of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which monitored the implementation of the Minsk Agreements after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 – ceasefire violations will only be recorded and reported. However, a mandate could also be developed that would allow soldiers to intervene in the event of a conflict, the publication notes.