Russia is willing to allocate one billion dollars from its assets frozen by the United States to the Peace Council initiated by American President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday, according to the Russian agency Interfax.
The announcement was made during the meeting in Moscow between the Kremlin leader and the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. “You’ve probably heard that we are ready to direct one billion dollars towards a new structure – the Peace Council – mainly to support the Palestinian people, for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and for solving Palestinian problems in general,” Vladimir Putin told Mahmoud Abbas.
“I have already stated that the use of funds frozen in the United States during the previous administration is, in my opinion, entirely possible,” Vladimir Putin continued.
He clarified that such options had been discussed before with representatives of the American administration and that a meeting dedicated to this subject was to take place on Thursday in Moscow. Meanwhile, in Davos, Switzerland, Donald Trump attended the launch ceremony of the so-called “Peace Council”, an initiative he promotes and which will collaborate with the United Nations. The American president stated that “many nations” are involved in the establishment of this body and emphasized that there will be close cooperation with the UN.
Initially, Donald Trump announced that the new Peace Council’s main objective will be to resolve the conflict in the Gaza Strip, only to later specify that the structure will act alongside the UN as a global mediator.