More countries across the Middle East and Asia have announced plans to join United States President Donald Trump's so-called "board of peace" in the Gaza Strip, stressing the need to secure a "permanent ceasefire" in the Palestinian enclave. The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkiye, and Qatar said they would be joining the Trump-led board in a joint statement on Wednesday. Kuwait's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said later on Wednesday that it also had accepted Trump's invitation to join the board. They will join Israel, which also publicly confirmed its participation earlier. On Wednesday evening Trump said Vladimir Putin had also agreed to join but the Russian president said his country was still studying the invitation. The board was originally thought to be aimed at helping end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and oversee reconstruction. But its proposed charter does not mention the Palestinian territory and appears to be designed to supplant functions of the UN. Saudi Arabia said that the group of Muslim-majority countries endorsed the aim of consolidating a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, supporting reconstruction and advancing what they described as a "just and lasting peace". At the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Trump told reporters that Putin had accepted his invitation to join. "He was invited, he's accepted. Many people have accepted," Trump said. Putin responded quickly, saying the invitation was under consideration, Reuters reported. He said Russia was prepared to provide $1bn from frozen Russian assets and that he viewed the board as primarily relevant to the Middle East. It is not clear how many countries have been invited to join Trump's new body — Canada and the UK are among them, but have not yet publicly responded. The UAE, Bahrain, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Vietnam have already signed up. On Wednesday the Vatican also confirmed Pope Leo has received an invitation. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the Pope would need time to consider whether to take part. However Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob said he had declined the invitation because the body "dangerously interferes with the broader international order". A leaked document says the Board of Peace's charter will enter into force once three states formally agree to be bound by it, with member states given renewable three-year terms and permanent seats available to those contributing $1bn (£740m), it said. The charter declared the body as an international organisation mandated to carry out peace-building functions under international law, with Trump serving as chairman - and separately as the US representative - and holding authority to appoint executive board members and create or dissolve subsidiary bodies. Last Friday, the White House named seven members of the founding Executive Board, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and former UK prime minister Tony Blair. — Agencies
