UK won’t join ‘Board of Peace’ signing ceremony, says Minister

Britain will not take part in Thursday’s signing ceremony for US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” in Davos, foreign minister Yvette Cooper said.

Trump is due to host the ceremony in Davos for the founding charter of his body for resolving international conflicts, which has a $1 billion price tag for permanent membership.

“There’s a huge amount of work to do, we won’t be one of the signatories today,” Cooper told BBC television from the Swiss mountain town, amid UK concerns about the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces are still fighting in Ukraine after invading in 2022.

“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,” she added.

Invites were earlier sent to dozens of world leaders to join the so-far vaguely defined grouping.

Although originally meant to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not seem to limit its role to the Strip and appears to want to rival the United Nations, drawing the ire of some US allies, including France.

Trump on Wednesday said Putin had agreed to join — despite the Kremlin so far saying it was still studying the invite.

AFP