On August 19, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun denied a Die Welt am Sonntag report claiming that China had expressed willingness to join a potential international peacekeeping force in Ukraine. Guo emphasized that the report was untrue and reiterated that China’s position on the Ukraine crisis has always been consistent and clear. According to the German report, EU diplomats in Brussels gave a mixed response: while some argued that participation by Global South countries such as China could lend legitimacy to the presence of foreign peacekeepers, others warned that Beijing might use the opportunity for intelligence purposes and would likely side with Russia instead of remaining neutral.
On August 16, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reiterated that China has always maintained an objective and fair stance, stressing the need for common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security, and calling for a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. These developments came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on August 14 that Russia supports strong security guarantees for Ukraine and agrees that such guarantees should not exclude UN Security Council members, including Western countries and China. Meanwhile, on August 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine does not need China as a guarantor. In contrast, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko argued that without China—a permanent UN Security Council member—achieving lasting peace anywhere in the world would be extremely difficult.
