Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected China’s security guarantees, saying Ukraine does not need them.
Zelensky is demanding security guarantees from Western heads of government, including US President Donald Trump, to prevent Russia from attacking Ukraine again.
Russia has said that China should be involved in providing such security guarantees, along with Western countries. This Russian proposal was rejected by Zelensky.
“We don’t need ‘guarantors’ who don’t help Ukraine and didn’t help us when we needed them. We only need security guarantees from countries that are ready to help us,” Zelensky told reporters in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
As discussions were underway to provide security guarantees to Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that reliable security guarantees were not possible without Russia’s participation. He also said that China could be involved in such security guarantees.
Responding to that, Zelensky said that China’s security guarantees were not needed.
Recently, US President Donald Trump also seems ready to provide security guarantees to prevent Russia from attacking Ukraine again.
After meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, USA on Friday, he discussed the issue with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on Monday.
Putin had demanded that Trump recognize the Ukrainian territory, including Crimea and the Donbass region, which he occupied, as Russian territory in order to end the war.
Putin has demanded ownership not only of the Ukrainian territory that Russia has so far occupied, but also of parts of the Donbas region that are not under its control.
Zelensky has already said such a demand would be invalid. But US security guarantees are important to Ukraine.
Ukraine is primarily demanding guarantees that Russia will not attack Ukraine again for a peace agreement.
Britain and France are ready to deploy 30,000 troops to Ukraine to prevent Russia from attacking again.
Trump told Zelensky and European leaders that Putin had acknowledged in his discussions that a Western military presence in Ukraine would be necessary to sustain the peace agreement.
Trump has also indicated that he is prepared to have the US provide such security guarantees. Trump was not prepared to provide such security guarantees before.
