UK not joining Trump’s Gaza ‘Board of Peace’ at this stage, confirms Cooper

The UK will not sign up to Donald Trump’s Board of Peace at this stage amid concerns about Russian involvement in the plan.

Yvette Cooper said the UK would discuss with allies the “different supportive role” it could play in the Gaza peace process as she faced questions about the prospect of joining the group.

The Foreign Secretary said Britain strongly supports the US president’s wider 20-point plan for peace in the Middle East as he seeks to spotlight the board at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.

But asked whether the UK would join the Board of Peace, she told BBC Breakfast: “There’s a huge amount of work to do.

“We won’t be one of the signatories today, because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues.

“And we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine.

“And to be honest, that is also what we should be talking about.”

The board was initially expected to be a small group of world leaders overseeing the ceasefire in the Middle East, but appears to have evolved into something more wide-reaching.

Some 35 countries, including Israel,  had agreed to sign on to the project, a senior official speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House has told reporters, and 60 nations had been invited to join.

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 compete with functions of the UN.

But on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia said that a group of Muslim-majority countries – Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan and Qatar –  hadendorsed the aim of consolidating a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, supporting reconstruction and advancing what they described as a “just and lasting peace”.

The UAE, Bahrain, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Vietnam have already signed up.

Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Wednesday that he had agreed to join,  despite his office having earlier criticised the composition of its executive committee.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said Moscow was still consulting with its “strategic partners” before deciding whether to commit to the plan.