By Guy Birchall
The Kremlin confirmed on Jan. 19 that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been invited to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza.
“President Putin has indeed received an offer through diplomatic channels to join this Board of Peace. We are currently studying all the details of this proposal,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in response to a question at a press briefing, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
“We hope to contact the US side to clarify all the details.”
The Board of Peace, to be chaired by Trump, is part of phase two of a U.S.-backed cease-fire agreement between Israel and terrorist group Hamas to end the war in Gaza.
The board will oversee the Palestinian technocratic committee, called the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, led by former Palestinian Authority official Ali Abdel Hamid Sha’ath.
On Jan. 16, Trump named the board’s founding executive members, which include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, private equity executive Marc Rowan, World Bank Group President Ajay Banga, and U.S. national security adviser Robert Gabriel.
The same day Russia confirmed that Putin had been invited to join the body, Moscow’s close ally Belarus revealed that President Alexander Lukashenko had received a similar invitation.
“Trump sent Lukashenko a letter proposing that Belarus become a founding member of the Board of Peace, a new international organization,” Belarus’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on X on Jan. 19.
“Belarus stance: We are ready to take part in the activities of the Board of Peace, taking into account and hoping that this organization will expand its scope and authority far beyond the mandate proposed in the initiative.”
The two Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan also confirmed they had been invited to join the board.
Other countries that have confirmed receipt of an invitation include Australia, India, Pakistan, Jordan, Paraguay, Argentina, Vietnam, and Hungary, but whether they will join the board is yet to be confirmed.
In a letter sent to Argentine President Javier Milei, which Milei shared on X, Trump said the board would seek to “solidify peace in the Middle East” and “embark on a bold new approach to resolving global conflict.”
Milei said that he was honored to join the board as a “founding member” and thanked Trump for the invitation.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told ABC Radio on Jan. 19 that his government had received Trump’s invitation but had yet to decide, according to a transcript from his office.
Hungary and Vietnam said they have accepted invitations to join the board.
The White House said each of the members will be tasked with managing the Gaza Strip’s “governance capacity-building, regional relations, reconstruction, investment attraction, large-scale funding, and capital mobilization,” which it said are vital to the enclave’s stability and long-term success.
Trump also named Abraham Accords Peace Institute CEO Aryeh Lightstone and Josh Gruenbaum as senior advisers to manage the board’s day-to-day strategy and operations and appointed Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat and former U.N. envoy to the Middle East, as the high representative for the Gaza Strip.
The administration also announced a separate 11-member executive board, composed of some founding members and officials from other countries, which will support both the technocratic committee and Mladenov’s office.
Aldgra Fredly contributed to this report.
