WASHINGTON — Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin has been invited to join President Trump’s “Board of Peace” for the war-torn Gaza Strip, the Kremlin claimed on Monday.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin had “received through diplomatic channels” an offer to join the board and added that Moscow was “hoping to get more details from the US side.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Under Trump’s post-cease-fire plan for Gaza, the board will supervise a technocratic government to replace the current Hamas terror leadership.
Putin, 73, has been accused of war crimes after invading Ukraine in February 2022 and kicking off Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. Some estimates suggested that more than 1 million Russian and Ukrainian forces have been killed or wounded in the fighting.
Russia is also a long-term ally of Iran, Hamas’ most powerful patron.
Trump, who was announced as the inaugural chairman of the Board of Peace, has sweeping veto power over the panel and the sole ability to determine which nations will be represented on it.
The White House confirmed this past weekend that while temporary three-year terms on the board are free, the president is expecting countries to cough up $1 billion for a permanent slot to raise money for reconstruction in Gaza.
The panel, which Trump has hailed as “the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled,” is expected to include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The leaders of Argentina, Egypt and Turkey have also received invites, according to their offices.
Over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office chided that the “announcement by the US administration regarding the composition of the Gaza Executive Board was not coordinated with Israel and runs contrary to its policy.”
Last week, Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff revealed that the US is moving into phase two of the three-stage Gaza Peace Plan.
Phase one, which took effect last October, saw Hamas release all living hostages and Israel scale back its military presence in the Palestinian enclave.
Phase two demands that Hamas disarm and cede control of the Gaza Strip to international peacekeepers and the new government. However, Hamas has said it won’t disarm.
Former Palestinian Authority bureaucrat Dr. Ali Sha’ath has been tapped to helm the new government if Hamas agrees to relinquish control.
Sha’ath was lauded by the White House as “a widely respected technocratic leader who will oversee the restoration of core public services, the rebuilding of civil institutions, and the stabilization of daily life in Gaza, while laying the foundation for long-term, self-sustaining governance.”
In spite of Hamas’ refusal to disarm so far, “the goal here is to create the alternative to Hamas that wants that peace and to figure out how to empower them,” a White House official told The Post Friday.
