Russia’s Vladimir Putin on Wednesday thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for an invitation to join a “Board of Peace” initiative and suggested Moscow could be prepared to pay the steep fee required for permanent membership, coming ahead of a meeting this week with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“We have always supported, and continue to support, any efforts aimed at strengthening international stability,” Putin said during a meeting with members of Russia’s Security Council, noting the Trump administration’s “efforts to find a solution to the crisis in Ukraine.”
He said the Foreign Ministry had been instructed to review a draft charter of the “Board of Peace,” adding that Russia would consult with its “strategic partners” before deciding whether to join.
The White House sent invitations over the weekend to dozens of world leaders to take part in the initiative. Several countries, including Israel, Hungary, Belarus and Kazakhstan, have confirmed their participation.
The “Board of Peace,” which would be chaired for life by Trump, was initially envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing a ceasefire and reconstruction in Gaza following more than two years of Israeli bombardment. However, the initiative has morphed into something larger and raised concerns that it could undercut the authority of the United Nations.
Under the proposal, countries would be eligible for permanent membership by paying $1 billion within the first year.
Putin said Russia could cover the membership fee using Russian assets frozen in the United States after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He added that additional frozen funds could be used for postwar reconstruction in Ukraine.
He said he planned to raise those ideas in a meeting on Thursday with Witkoff and Kushner, as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is scheduled to visit Moscow the same day.
Witkoff and Kushner, whom Trump has tasked with negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine, are making their second joint trip to Moscow to present the latest draft of a U.S.-brokered peace proposal.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, Witkoff said he believes Ukraine and Russia could be close to reaching an agreement.
“I think we’ve got it down to one issue, and we have discussed iterations of that issue, and that means it’s solvable. So if both sides want to solve this, we're going to get it solved,” he said at an event focused on Ukraine.
Witkoff said he and Kushner did not plan to stay overnight in Moscow and would instead fly on to Abu Dhabi, where talks would continue in what he described as “military to military” working groups.
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