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This Thursday, the first meeting of the Peace Council of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, was held, created to support the maintenance of peace in the Gaza Strip.
Around two dozen nations participated in the meeting and, according to Axios, the meeting made it clear which countries, specifically, will participate in the future process of resolving the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Who participates?
The White House has formally invited 50 countries to join the Peace Council, and so far 35 leaders have shown interest. As of today, 26 countries have joined and have been designated as founding members of the Council. At least 14 countries have declined the invitations.The participating countries represent different regions of the world:
- Latin America: Argentina, Paraguay and El Salvador.
- Europe: Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary and Kosovo*.
- Middle East: Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates.
- Asia: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Pakistan.
- Africa: Egypt and Morocco.
Who rejected the membership?
Some countries, mainly European, ended up rejecting the invitation of the American president, citing different reasons: Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. The Vatican stated that it will not participate "due to its particular nature, which is obviously not that of other States". Furthermore, Trump previously withdrew the invitation to the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney.Participation of Russia and China
The US president invited Russia to join the Council, but Moscow has not yet given an official response to the proposal. Russian President Vladimir Putin, thanked Trump for the invitation to the Peace Council and instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to study the documents received in order to give a response. Likewise, he indicated that Russia is willing to donate to the organization 1 billion dollars in Russian assets frozen in the United States by decision of the previous administration. China has also not made a final decision on its participation in the organization. At the end of the meeting, Trump again expressed his desire to see Moscow and Beijing among the participants. "I would like China and Russia to be on the Peace Council. They have been invited," he told reporters.What was on the agenda of the first meeting?
The main topic of the meeting was a reconstruction plan for Gaza. Trump assured before the meeting that the Council members that the participating states have pledged to contribute more than $5 billion for humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in Gaza.Five countries are ready to deploy peacekeepers in Gaza, declared during the meeting US Major General Jasper Jeffers. "The first five countries have committed troops to serve in the International Stabilization Forces: Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo* and Albania. Two countries have committed to training the Police: Egypt and Jordan", he indicated.
According to Jeffers, the long-term plan involves using 20,000 ISF forces and training 12,000 police officers.What is the Peace Council?
- The creation of the Peace Council was announced by Trump in January. On January 22, Trump signed the statutes of his Peace Council that establish the body's mandate over Gaza, in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution.
- Initially, the body was conceived as an instrument to supervise peace in the Gaza Strip; however, concerns are growing that its powers will go beyond the region and address global issues.
