China says 'won't act' as guarantor for Ukraine but to support Moscow-Kyiv peace talks

In back-to-back responses to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's security guarantees request in an exclusive interview with Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, China on Thursday stated that it is "not likely" for Beijing to act as Ukraine's security guarantor. However, Beijing will still stand in support of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

This comes after France stepped forward to act as a security guarantor for Ukraine, which will make Paris essentially obligated to provide military assistance in case of an attack by Russia. Notably, French President Emmanuel Macron came on board as a security guarantor after mega Arnab-Zelenskyy interview, where the embattled President stated that Kyiv required guarantees from countries like the US, UK, China, Turkey, Germany, Poland to deter Russian aggression, which has now escalated today 44.

"Security guarantees in talks with Putin could be a parallel process and we should not delay or slow down the dialogue by any meetings. We know some of the countries are ready to extend security guarantees to Ukraine. It would be better before the meeting with the President to have some clear agreements on which countries are ready to make some commitments. Not to have just meetings for the sake of having meetings but to have some specifics. We are ready to have the process in a parallel format so that we won't have to wait until we have the meeting in one or two years. We don't want the war to continue for so long," President Zelenskyy said in the massive interview with Arnab Goswami.

China asks 'what kind of security will guarantors provide'?

Shortly after France agreed to be a security guarantor for Ukraine, Chinese strategist Andrew K P Leung slammed the countries agreeing to offer security guarantees to Kyiv. Addressing a panel on Republic TV, Leung questioned:

"What kind of security will they provide? The problem lies with other guarantors' requests, especially with the request from the other members of the UN Security Council, some of the members can provide security guarantees to Ukraine, but the question remains what kind of security as Ukraine is not a member of NATO."

Zelenskyy details possible security guarantors

President Zelenskyy made unprecedented disclosures about the security guarantees he is seeking from the world in his interview with Republic. The President not only named the countries he was seeking guarantees from, but also made it abundantly clear that he was “willing to move on talks before security guarantees were made”. President Zelenskyy said it would be “good” to have some basic commitments but talks are more important than getting security guarantees.

In a first-ever open invitation, President Zelenskyy in the interview with Arnab Goswami asked for India to be a security guarantor to help end the war. The Ukrainian President called for India to join the security guarantees, not once but twice in the interview to Republic Media Network.

(Image: AP)