Donald Trump invites Putin to Gaza ‘peace board’ amid ongoing Ukraine war

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to join United States President Donald Trump’s proposed “board of peace”, a body intended to address global conflicts and oversee governance and reconstruction in Gaza, according to the Kremlin, the Al Jazeera reported.

The invitation was extended as Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine continues, with peace negotiations showing limited progress. Trump has repeatedly said he would end the Ukraine conflict quickly if elected, but fighting on the ground has persisted and talks have stalled.

The White House has approached several international figures to serve on the “board of peace”, which would be chaired by Trump.

“President Putin also received an invitation to join this board of peace,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

Peskov said Moscow was seeking clarification from Washington on the details of the proposal, but did not indicate whether Putin would accept the offer.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin, has also reportedly been invited to join the group.

For years, Russia sought to maintain balanced relations across the Middle East, including with both Israel and the Palestinians. However, since Israel’s war on Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has shifted away from Israel while strengthening ties with countries such as Iran and several Gulf Arab states, amid increasing isolation from the West.

Putin has previously spoken positively about Trump’s diplomatic efforts. In October, he said Trump was making significant efforts to resolve long-running international crises.

“He’s really doing a lot to resolve these complex crises, which have lasted for years, even decades,” Putin said at the time.

Commenting on the Middle East, Putin added that success in Trump’s initiatives would represent a “historic event”.

Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israel’s campaign in Gaza have strained Moscow’s traditionally strong relations with Israel, which has a large Russian-speaking population. The Kremlin has repeatedly criticised Israel’s military operations in Gaza and called for restraint.

“The Gaza Strip is experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe in the full sense of the word,” Putin said in May during talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, according to RIA Novosti.

He added that Russia was seeking to provide regular assistance to Palestinians.

The proposed “board of peace” is expected to oversee the implementation of Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza. According to officials, the body would operate through a three-tier structure involving representatives from the United States, Europe and Arab countries.

The initiative has drawn criticism from analysts, who argue that its leadership structure — placing Trump and senior pro-Israel figures such as US secretary of state Marco Rubio at the top — could sideline Palestinian political representation. Critics also say the model risks prioritising external control and commercial interests over Palestinian self-governance.