Russian President Vladimir Putin has received an invitation to join Donald Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza, the Kremlin said on Monday.
Chaired by Mr Trump, the board is part of the US leader's 20-point peace plan for Gaza, and is responsible for overseeing the second phase of a fragile ceasefire. Mr Putin “received an offer through diplomatic channels”, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He said Russia aims to contact the US side to clarify all the details of the proposal.
Should Mr Putin accept, he would join a board of 15 Arab and international leaders who will direct the initiative to temporarily administer Gaza, disarm Hamas, and start the reconstruction process.
President Trump announced the formation of the Gaza Board of Peace last week, with invitations sent to 60 nations. An executive board within it includes the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and former UK prime minister Tony Blair. Also starting work is a committee of Palestinian technocrats handed interim charge of Gaza's day-to-day affairs.
Board members
Jordan's foreign ministry said on Sunday that King Abdullah II received an invitation to join the Board of Peace. Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo was "studying" the request.
Other invitees to the Board of Peace include the current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Brazil’s President Lula da Silva, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Monday accepted Mr Trump's invitation to join the board and affirmed his commitment to "the achievement of lasting peace in the Middle East", his representative said.
The UAE-based Bulgarian diplomat and former UN envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov will serve as the board's High Representative for Gaza, with chief executive of the Abraham Accords Peace Institute Aryeh Lightstone and White House Gaza adviser Josh Gruenbaum senior advisers to the board.
The committee will also include the World Bank chief Ajay Banga, investor Marc Rowan and US national security adviser Robert Gabriel. The White House described them as “leaders with experience across diplomacy, development, infrastructure and economic strategy”.
A separate executive board serving the Office of the High Representative and the Palestinian interim government, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), has also been established.
Mr Witkoff, Mr Kushner, Mr Blair, Mr Rowan and Mr Mladenov will also serve on the body, in addition to the UAE Minister of State for International Co-operation Reem Al Hashimy, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Qatari diplomat Ali Al Thawadi, Egyptian intelligence chief Gen Hassan Rashad and the UN's senior humanitarian and reconstruction co-ordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag.
The Gaza board of peace's first meeting is expected to be held at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week. Forming a technocratic government to rule Gaza, attracting investment and disarming Hamas will all be high on the agenda.
