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By Ellie Cook
Senior Defense Reporter
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China is "too smart" to commit any of its military forces to Russia's war effort in eastern Ukraine, the chair of Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Committee has said.
Reports attributed to the National Resistance Center, run by Ukraine's special forces, suggested Chinese officials could consider supporting Russia's war effort in Moscow-controlled swathes of eastern Ukraine. The center's statement was later deleted.
Russia controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including chunks—but not all—of the eastern Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions, which it said in fall 2022 it had annexed. Moscow also seized Crimea, the peninsula south of mainland Ukraine, from Kyiv in 2014.
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"I don't believe it," Oleksandr Merezhko, the head of Ukraine's parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, told Newsweek on Wednesday, referring to the speculation that Beijing could step up its involvement with Russia in the annexed territories of Ukraine.
"China is very careful. They're very cautious," he added. "They're too smart for that—to make such a mistake."
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for China's embassy in the U.S, told Newsweek he was "not aware" of the report, saying Beijing's position "on the Ukrainian crisis is consistent and clear."
"Since the crisis escalated, China has been in communication with all parties concerned, committed to building consensus to stop the war and paving the way for peace talks," he said. "China will always stand firmly on the side of peace, uphold an objective and fair position, and continue to work with the international community to play a constructive role in promoting a political solution to the crisis."
Beijing has a long and winding relationship with Moscow, and Chinese President Xi Jinping declared a "no limits" partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the days before Russian tanks and troops rolled across the border to invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
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China has walked a tightrope amid the war in Ukraine, pressing for "dialogue and negotiation" and positioning itself as a possible negotiating force while skirting open condemnation of Russia's invasion.
Li Hui, a Chinese envoy for Eurasia, visited Kyiv in February 2024, and Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Ukraine prized its "partnership with China" and looked forward to "deepening and strengthening our relations."
Chinese officials had lobbied for a leading role in facilitating peace talks to end the war in Ukraine after U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the Oval Office in January and opened the door to talks with Putin, The Wall Street Journal reported in February.
On the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Xi said Beijing's ties with Moscow had a "strong internal driving force and unique strategic value."
Yet, Beijing is still "trying not to cross red lines" for Western nations that have backed Ukraine, Merezhko said. It is not in China's interest to become mired in military action in Moscow-controlled eastern Ukraine, he added, which would risk Beijing becoming a party to Europe's largest land conflict since World War II and facing possible economic sanctions.
"I honestly don't think they would seriously contemplate it at this stage, given the stakes," Joshua Walker, a former State and Defense Department official who now heads the Japan Society nonprofit, told Newsweek.
Newsweek has contacted the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment via email.
Unconfirmed reports said China would weigh up committing unspecified forces to Russia's effort to furnish its fighters with combat experience. Beijing now has a formidable military, but no experience committing its troops to combat.
Combat experience was touted as one of the main advantages for Pyongyang, which has sent upwards of 11,000 North Korean soldiers to battle Ukraine's monthslong incursion into Russia's Kursk region.
While North Korea's forces are thought to have sustained heavy casualties, surviving troops will have some of the most up-to-date knowledge fighting a modern war. South Korean media reported on Wednesday, citing Seoul's spy agency, that Pyongyang had adapted to the rampant, cutting-edge drone warfare that has defined the conflict in Ukraine.
North Korea is "significantly benefiting from receiving Russian military equipment, technology and experience, rendering it more capable of waging war against its neighbors," said Dorothy Camille Shea, then a deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, in January.
Ukrainian media reported last month that Chinese firms had begun to invest in projects rebuilding factories in Russian-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine.
Update 3/6/2025 at 12:15 p.m. ET: This article was updated with a response from Liu Pengyu.
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