Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to join US President Donald Trump’s Peace Commission overseeing Gaza reconstruction, the president’s spokesperson announced on Monday.
“President Putin also received an invitation to participate in this peace commission through diplomatic channels,” Dmitry Peskov told reporters at a regular media briefing.
He said the Kremlin is currently reviewing the invitation and “looks forward to receiving more detailed information from the American side.”
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
Late on Monday, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry announced that President Alexander Lukashenko had also received an invitation to the board meeting.
The ministry’s press office said Minsk “highly appreciates that the American side regards Belarus as a country ready to take on the noble responsibility of building lasting peace, setting an example and investing in a secure and prosperous future for future generations.” This is also clearly stated in the speech.
Mr Lukashenko is Mr Putin’s closest ally and is said to be Europe’s last dictator.
The creation of the board, chaired by Trump, is a key step in the United Nations-backed U.S. plan to demilitarize and rebuild the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by a two-year war between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
But signs of dissatisfaction are already beginning to emerge. Ireland’s Foreign Secretary Helen McEntee warned in a statement on Sunday that Trump’s proposed body “would have a broader mandate than implementing the Gaza peace plan.”
“The United Nations has a unique mission to maintain international peace and security and a legitimacy to unite nations to find common solutions to common challenges. Imperfect as it may be, the United Nations and the primacy of international law are now more important than ever,” she said.
The commission, which President Trump has described as “the greatest and most prestigious board ever assembled,” will include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A senior Israeli official told CNN on Monday that President Trump had invited Israel to join the board as a founding member. The official said the invitation was sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or another Israeli representative on his behalf.
It is unclear how many invitations were sent out. Information about which countries and world leaders are being asked to participate is provided by each state, not the White House.
One of the invitations was sent to French President Emmanuel Macron, but France decided not to participate, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Pascal Confavreux told CNN on Monday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Argentine President Javier Milei, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also received invitations to participate, according to announcements from them and their offices. US Ambassador to India Sergio Gol said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also invited to participate.
Some leaders, including Orban, shared the invitations publicly. They show that Trump addressed the letter personally to the leaders while inviting their countries to join the board as “founding nations.”
U.S. officials say members of the committee can earn a permanent seat by paying $1 billion. The official told CNN that while the board is not obligated to contribute funds, any member who does not pay the $1 billion will have a three-year term.
The official said all funds raised would go toward rebuilding Gaza, adding: “There will be no exorbitant salaries and administrative bloat that plagues many other international organizations.”
Putin’s appointment to the board marks an unusual return to the world stage for the Russian leader, who has largely stayed away from international cooperation projects since ordering a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Kremlin’s involvement in the conflict between Israel and Hamas was limited, but it touted its ties to both Israel and Hamas and offered to mediate soon after the war began.
Unlike many Western countries, Russia does not officially consider Hamas a terrorist group. Senior Hamas leaders visited Moscow just weeks after the insurgents launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, despite the attack killing or kidnapping at least 20 Russian nationals.
In 2024, some Palestinian factions met in Moscow after nearly two decades of conflict. Russian state news agency TASS reported earlier this month that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to visit Russia later this week.
