UN-Russia to Skip First Peace Board Meeting in Washington

US President Donald Trump/Photo: White House via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - The United Nations (UN) and Russia have stated that they will not attend the first meeting of the Board of Peace (BoP) established by US President Donald Trump, which will take place in Washington on February 19.

"No, I don't know if we will participate in the Peace Council meeting, or send a representative to Washington. If there are changes, I will let you know," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric as reported by ANTARA from Sputnik, Friday, February 13.

According to him, the UN will coordinate and cooperate with the Peace Council, especially through the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Ramiz Alakbarov.

Previously, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia would not send a representative to the meeting.

On January 16, Trump announced the formation of a Peace Council that involved a number of figures such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and World Bank President Ajay Banga.

Originally the council was intended to deal with the crisis in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. However, Trump as the executive chairman then expanded the council's mandate into a global mechanism to deal with various world conflicts.

On January 22, the charter of the Peace Council was signed by a number of heads of state, including Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) event in Davos, Switzerland.

Russia is still studying the possibility of joining the council but has shown an open and critical attitude.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his readiness to deposit US$1 billion from Russian assets frozen in the United States, while Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed that the Peace Council should not replace the role of the United Nations.