Leaders from Israel, Russia and other countries have been told they can purchase $1 billion permanent seats on President Trump’s recently announced Gaza Strip “board of peace.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had received an offer to join the board. He said Moscow will wait to discuss details of the membership with Washington before responding.
Mr. Peskov confirmed that Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev will travel to Davos, Switzerland, this week for the World Economic Forum’s conference and plans to meet with U.S. officials there.
The White House did not confirm the offer to sell Russia, which invaded neighboring Ukraine in 2022, a seat on the peace board.
Russia continues its bloody campaign in Ukraine. International observers say Russian forces have killed hundreds of thousands, including civilians, since the invasion began. Kyiv and its allies have repeatedly accused Moscow of targeting civilian infrastructure with long-range missile strikes. Russia has denied the accusations.
NATO and other European Union leaders have accused Russia of flagrantly violating European sovereignty over the past few months since 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, Reuters reported Monday. Whether the prime minister accepted the offer is unclear, and the White House has not confirmed the invitation.
Mr. Netanyahu has been at the receiving end of war crimes accusations over Israel’s war with Hamas after the Islamist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks.
Mr. Netanyahu made waves last week by criticizing 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 Gaza Executive Board’s work. On Friday, Mr. Trump announced that he, 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.
The board’s charter hints at much grander ambitions.
The charter calls the board an international organization “that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict.” In a possible dig at the United Nations, it 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 permanent members. It is unclear which governments would be paying the fee or what the fees would fund.
Washington has reportedly sent invitations to the leaders of Argentina, Belarus, France, Hungary, Paraguay, Turkey, Egypt, Canada and Thailand. U.S. officials reached out to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week concerning his country’s representation on the board.
Leaders from Belarus and Hungary eagerly accepted the invitation Sunday. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban published Mr. Trump’s invitation to the board.
Other world leaders reacted cautiously to Mr. Trump’s announcement. Most agreed in principle to establishing the peace board without committing their countries to spending $1 billion for a lifetime membership.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed enthusiasm for the board’s mission to oversee the peace plan in Gaza but seemed reluctant to accept the organization’s charter and to pay the membership fee.
The French Foreign Ministry said officials were reviewing the invitation while reiterating France’s “attachment to the United Nations charter.”
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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