dpa/rtr | According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin has received an invitation from the USA via diplomatic channels to take part in the so-called Peace Council for the Gaza Strip. “We are currently examining all the details of this offer, and we also hope to have contacts with the American side to clarify all the nuances,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. Russia maintains contacts with both Israel and the Palestinian leadership and the terrorist organization Hamas.
In Moscow, the invitation to join the committee planned by US President Donald Trump was also met with goodwill because Russia traditionally sees itself as an important player in the Middle East and pursues its own geopolitical interests there. In addition, Kremlin leader Putin sees himself as welcome on the international stage, regardless of his war of aggression against Ukraine. Putin had also repeatedly welcomed Trump’s efforts to end Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. However, there is one there Peace not in sight.
“Peace Council” and Executive Committee
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Egypt’s head of state Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Argentina’s President Javier Milei also received invitations to the “Peace Council”. The committee is Part of the second phase of Trump’s peace plan for Gazawhich envisages a permanent end to the war and the disarmament of the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas, which it rejects.
The international body is supposed to oversee the new interim government of the coastal strip that was largely destroyed in the war between Hamas and Israel. Trump himself is in the chair. According to the White House, the committee includes former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Criticism of “colonial” plans for the Gaza Strip
Governments around the world have reacted cautiously to an invitation from US President Donald Trump to join a “peace council” he leads to resolve global conflicts. Diplomats warned Reuters on Sunday that the plan could affect the work of the United Nations. Only the EU country Hungary, whose right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban is a close ally of Trump, accepted the invitation addressed to around 60 nations. Trump had also written a corresponding letter to Chancellor Friedrich Merz. While many governments acknowledged receipt of the letter, which includes paying $1 billion for membership for more than three years, many governments remained cautious about whether they would join the initiative.
According to an EU diplomat, the proposal is more like club membership because Trump wants to appoint himself as boss for life and decide whether other countries join. “It is a ‘Trump United Nations’ that ignores the basic principles of the UN Charter,” another diplomat said. Three other Western diplomats said it looked like it would undermine the United Nations if implemented. “And if we question that… we fall back into very, very dark times,” Annalena Baerbock, president of the UN General Assembly, told Sky News.
UN reacts calmly
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reacted calmly. Member states are free to join together in different groups, his spokesman said on Sunday. “The United Nations will continue to carry out its assigned tasks,” he added. In recent years there has been repeated criticism of the mutual blockades in the UN Security Council, with the veto powers USA, China, Russia, Great Britain and France as permanent members. Nevertheless, the Federal Government and the EU see the UN as the most important international organization for upholding international law.
Parallel to the letter, US President Trump had a new customs conflict with European countries in the dispute over Greenland, which belongs to Denmark broken off the fence that he wants to buy. His idea of a “peace council” was actually intended for reconstruction and a peace process in the Gaza Strip. The UN Security Council’s mandate for this only applies until 2027 and only concerns the Gaza conflict. According to the letter available to Reuters, Trump wants to turn the Peace Council into a body for global conflict resolution. Those invited would have the honor of “leading by example” and investing “brilliantly” in a secure and prosperous future, he writes. The invitation therefore goes to “wonderful and committed” partners. They could appoint a representative who would belong to the council led by him.
Federal government does not react
The federal government and other leading European countries did not initially respond to the letter. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said during her visit to South Korea that her country was “ready to do its part,” although it was unclear whether she was referring specifically to Gaza or to the broader peace process. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday that he had agreed in principle to Trump’s Gaza Peace Council, although the details were still being worked out.
On Friday, the US Presidential Office named several people who would be members of the Peace Council for the Gaza Strip and sent out further invitations. He is supposed to temporarily take over the supervisory body for the administration of the Gaza Strip, under which the fragile ceasefire that has been in force since October is to remain in place. A Palestinian technocratic administration should take over practical governance. The supervisory board is said to include US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. According to information from Ankara, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was also invited.
Criticism also from Israel
Many human rights experts and activists criticize Trump’s chairmanship of a panel overseeing the governance of a foreign territory as resembling a colonial structure. There is also criticism of Blair’s involvement because of his role in the Iraq War.
Trump’s plans have met with criticism even in Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the composition of a separate 11-member “Gaza Executive Committee” to support the technocrat government had not been coordinated with Israel and contradicted its policies. Among other things, there is criticism of the participation of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.