Trump administration reportedly mulling expansion of Gaza ‘Board of Peace’ to Ukraine

The Trump administration is considering expanding the remit of its “Board of Peace”, which it has unilaterally created to oversee Gaza’s reconstruction, to other conflict zones around the world including Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on Friday. 

The Board of Peace, whose executive board was named by the US government on Friday, includes US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former UK prime minister Tony Blair, Trump's Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's own son-in-law Jared Kushner. 

The Trump administration views the body “as a potential substitute for the UN . . . a kind of parallel unofficial body to deal with other conflicts beyond Gaza,” according to a person briefed on its likely remit cited by the FT.

“I can say with certainty that it is the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Friday.

On Tuesday, leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Trump administration was considering expanding the board’s remit to include other global conflicts, such as those between Russia and Ukraine and between Azerbaijan and Armenia, “depending on its performance in Gaza”. 

A senior Kyiv official involved in discussions with the Trump administration told the FT that Ukraine considered the board to be an important potential aspect of negotiations with Russia to end the war. 

“Currently, it is suggested that this particular board will be established particularly for the Ukraine-Russia case,” the official told the FT, adding that it could be used to monitor implementation of the 20-point peace being discussed by Washington, Kyiv, Moscow and Brussels.

Diplomats cited by the FT said that US officials had also floated expanding the board’s remit to Venezuela, whose political future remains uncertain since the US seizure of former president Nicolás Maduro earlier this month. 

“The entire world wants to be part of President Trump’s historic effort to deliver peace to the Middle East,” the White House told the FT. “Any announcements of Board of Peace membership will come from the president directly.”