Leaders from Israel and Russia have been invited to join President Trump’s recently announced Gaza “board of peace.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had received an offer to join the board, but that Moscow would wait to discuss details of the membership with Washington before it responded.
Mr. Peskov confirmed that Mr. Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, would travel to Davos, Switzerland, this week for the World Economic Forum’s conference and would meet with U.S. officials there.
The White House has not confirmed the Russian invitation.
News of the invitation comes as Mr. Putin continues his brutal assault on Ukraine, where international observers say Russian forces have killed hundreds of thousands, including civilians, since the invasion began in 2022. Kyiv and its allies have repeatedly accused Moscow of targeting civilian infrastructure with its long-range missile strikes, which Russia has denied.
NATO and other European Union leaders have also accused Russia of flagrantly violating European sovereignty over the past few months after Polish and Estonian authorities noticed Russian jets in their respective airspace.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also received an invitation to join the newly established peace board, according to reporting from Reuters on Monday. It’s unclear if the prime minister accepted the offer, and the White House has not confirmed the invitation.
Mr. Netanyahu made waves last week by criticising the composition of the Gaza Executive Board, arguing that it was counter to Israeli security and policy. The board is composed mostly of Palestinian officials who are meant to oversee the imposition of the U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire plan.
The proposed “board of peace” is intended to oversee the work of the Gaza Executive Board. On Friday, Mr. Trump announced that, along with himself, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and World Bank President Ajay Banga would join the board.
However, the board’s charter hints at much grander ambitions for the organization.
The charter calls the board an “international organisation that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict,” and, in a possible dig at the United Nations, says it will have “the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed.”
Invited leaders will serve a maximum of three years on the board, unless their governments pay a $1 billion fee to become a permanent member. It is unclear which governments would be paying the fee or what the fees would fund.
Washington has also reportedly sent invitations to the leaders of Argentina, Belarus, France, Paraguay, Turkey, Egypt, Canada and Thailand. U.S. officials had also reached out to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week concerning his country’s representation on the board.
