March 24th, 2025: China Considers Sending Troops To Ukraine & Israel Launches Strikes In Lebanon
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What is the significance of China's potential troop deployment to Ukraine?
It's Monday, the 24th of March. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Coming to you yet again from a, well, an airport lounge somewhere. Not sure where it is at this point. I can't keep track. All right, let's get briefed. We'll start off with a major report out of Germany. China is reportedly considering sending troops to Ukraine as part of a future peacekeeping force. That's right, Chinese troops in Ukraine. I'll explain why that's such a big deal and why the consequences could reach far beyond Ukraine's borders. Later in the show, a major escalation in the Middle East as Israel launches airstrikes into Lebanon following a rocket barrage coming from Lebanese territory. Plus, as the Israeli Defense Forces, the IDF, continue their renewed efforts in Gaza, Hamas faces calls from Palestinians to relinquish their power in order to avoid, quote, "...the end of the Palestinians' existence."
And in today's back of the brief, it looks like a win for the Trump administration's immigration agenda. Venezuela says it will once again accept deportation flights from the US, reversing a recent suspension. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. We'll start things off today with a surprising development, that's putting it mildly, related to Putin's war in Ukraine. According to a new report from the German newspaper Die Welt, China is considering sending troops to Ukraine. Now, China's PLA, the People's Liberation Army, wouldn't deploy to Ukraine to fight, but to function as part of a future peacekeeping force. Hmm. Makes you wonder how the North Korean troops that are fighting next to Russian soldiers would feel about that.
According to the report, China is angling to join what British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is calling a, quote, coalition of the willing. That's the group of countries prepared to send troops to Ukraine to enforce a ceasefire between Kiev and Moscow, if and when that day comes.
How could China's involvement shift the balance in Ukraine?
An unnamed European Union diplomatic source told Die Welt that the situation is, quote, delicate, well, that's probably, again, putting it mildly, but that China's inclusion in a peacekeeping mission could help get Russia to agree to such a force. The thinking here is fairly simple. Moscow would never accept NATO troops in Ukraine, they've said as much repeatedly. not even under a UN peacekeeping mandate. But Chinese troops, well, that's different, given that China's Xi Jinping has basically propped up the Russian economy for the past three years and enabled Putin to keep his war machine chugging away. Now, if China has actually floated this idea as a possibility, it is highly likely that Chinese and Russian high-level officials have discussed the idea.
And if they've discussed the idea and consider it an actual possibility, well, it would be because Putin and Xi view it as advantageous to their own interests. Up to this point, the biggest roadblock to any international peacekeeping force has always been Russia's total distrust of NATO. Well, not to mention Putin's lack of interest in stopping his war on Ukraine. There is that. But were he inclined to agree to some legitimate type of ceasefire, there's zero chance that Moscow would allow NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine. But China, despite some complicated history, is viewed by the Kremlin as a strategic partner and, as mentioned, an economic lifeline. If a peacekeeping force were needed to monitor or enforce a ceasefire, China might be the only major power that Russia wouldn't immediately reject. And that gives Beijing a very rare position, a kind of diplomatic leverage that no Western nation could claim. It could even let China present itself as a so-called, quote, honest broker, capable of holding both sides to account.
And yes, I somehow managed to say that with a straight face. Now, to be clear, as mentioned, China has supported Russia throughout this war. They've parroted Russian talking points, ramped up trade, and sent dual-use goods that help Moscow on the battlefield. So the idea of China as a neutral party is humorous at best.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the significance of China's potential troop deployment to Ukraine?
0:12–2:24
2
How could China's involvement shift the balance in Ukraine?
2:24–11:49
3
What recent escalations are occurring in the Middle East?
11:49–13:19
4
How is Israel responding to threats from Lebanon?
13:19–17:38
5
What are the implications of Israel's airstrikes on Lebanon?
17:38
6
What challenges does Hamas face amid the current conflict?
14:26–20:48
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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