Prime Minister Mark Carney is still considering joining the U.S.-led “Board of Peace” for Gaza’s reconstruction despite the possible participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced late last week that he would create the board to oversee a new technocratic Palestinian government, as well as the disarmament of Hamas and the deployment of an international security force in Palestine.
Carney has been invited to sit on the board, as has Putin, whose regime continues to wage a war of invasion against Ukraine, and whose country is under significant Canadian economic sanctions over that conflict.
“There are still details needed to be appropriately worked out to formalize the next steps” of Canada’s involvement with Trump’s board, Audrey Champoux, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office, said on Monday.
Canadian officials travelling with Carney to Davos, Switzerland, told reporters that the board’s charter document is still “under discussion” and that “many terms and conditions are still being worked out.”
They added that Carney “indicated his intent” to accept the invitation to join the board to help influence those discussions “from within.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia is “studying the details” of Trump’s proposal and is seeking clarity on “all the nuances.” It’s not clear when Putin’s invitation was offered. Officials said the matter was raised with Carney weeks ago.
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Canada has supported Ukraine through more than a decade of fighting, after Russia first invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of the country in 2022, Canada has pledged $6.5 billion in military assistance to Ukraine in addition to economic support, humanitarian and development assistance.
Trump announced his “Board of Peace” plans late last week, promising a prestigious group of world leaders to help bolster the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. A reference in Trump’s invitation suggests that the proposed board would expand beyond that crisis, potentially as a rival body to the United Nations Security Council.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, has signalled he will take part.
The European Commission has yet to publicly accept or decline its invitation. A spokesperson for the commission told reporters that the body wants “to contribute to a comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict.”
Speaking to reporters in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday, Carney said Canada “will explore every avenue” in order to address the ongoing “humanitarian tragedy in Gaza.”
“I haven’t gone through, we haven’t gone through all the details of the structure, how it’s going to work, what financing is for, et cetera. And so we will work through those in the coming days,” Carney said.
“We still do not have unimpeded aid flows, humanitarian aid flows at scale to the people of Gaza.
“That is a precondition for moving forward.”
Trump’s plans are expected to be discussed in Davos this week, where Carney, Trump and other world and economic leaders have gathered for the annual World Economic Forum meetings.
Complicating the discussion around Trump’s peace plans will be the president’s own words, and his repeated demands for U.S. ownership and control over Greenland.
Trump linked his demands for Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in a leaked message that he no longer is obliged “to think purely of Peace.”
“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” Trump’s message read.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by an independent committee, not the Norwegian government.
“The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”
Greenland is an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, a NATO ally. Several NATO member nations, including the U.K. and France, have sent military assets to support Greenland in the face of U.S. pressure.
So far, Canada has yet to follow suit – although Carney has repeatedly indicated support for Canada’s NATO ally and the right of Greenland to determine its own future.
— with files from The Associated Press
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