The newly formed Peace Council was presented by Donald Trump in Davos, with 19 countries signing up to the new body, in a ceremony accompanied by limited clarifications on the mandate, structure and functioning of the body. From the European Union, only Hungary and Bulgaria participated in the ceremony, in a setting where the traditional Western European allies of the United States were completely absent.
The US president called the Council “something really, really unique in the world” and, speaking at the signing ceremony of the founding charter, said it could work with the United Nations to resolve wars, not just in the Middle East — where the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza was, he said, the starting point for the idea. However, he did not provide specific details on how such cooperation with the UN could be organized or implemented.
The lack of a clear description of the new body's mandate and procedures has raised concerns in several countries, many of which are considered close allies of the United States. Concerns have reportedly been expressed that Trump may seek the new Council to replace or compete with the UN, leading some governments to either refuse to participate or to take a wait-and-see approach.
After his remarks, Donald Trump sat down at the table and was among the first to sign the founding charter of the Peace Council. Representatives from Bahrain and Morocco were the first to follow, while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt then introduced the remaining members who came to add their signatures.
The ceremony was held with a significantly smaller turnout than the roughly 35 countries that a government official had announced earlier in the week were expected to attend. The mix of participants was geographically skewed toward the Middle East, South America and Central Asia, with representatives and leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina and Paraguay, among others, on stage. Trump publicly thanked them, calling them “mostly very popular leaders, in some cases not so much.”
The Peace Council was signed, according to the announcements, by representatives from Bahrain and Morocco, the Prime Minister of Armenia, the President of Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria and the Prime Minister of Hungary. Also participating are the President of Indonesia, the Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan, the President of Kosovo, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the Prime Minister of Qatar, the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia and the Foreign Minister of Turkey. The President of Uzbekistan and the Prime Minister of Mongolia are also participating in the group.
In his speech, Donald Trump also mentioned Venezuela, talking about the US action and describing the US military as “by far the most powerful military in the world”, after the operation that, as he said, led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro. “Earlier this month, thanks to the unparalleled skill, strength and power of the US military — we have by far the most powerful military in the world — we captured the illegitimate dictator Nicolas Maduro and liberated the people of Venezuela”, he said. He added that the US has “an excellent relationship with the new leaders of Venezuela” and that “those relationships are good”.
He then stated that "we are opening the country to our major oil companies and that is going very well. We have already pumped 50 million barrels of oil and a large part of it will return to Venezuela". As he said, Venezuela "will have more revenue with us in a short time than it has had in years", while adding: "The oil companies want to come in, they want to come in immediately. We are already there and inspecting the facilities".
The US president also referred to drug trafficking, claiming that US strikes against alleged smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and surrounding waters have reduced illegal maritime shipments to the US by 98,1%, a figure he said was up about one percentage point from the figures he had received the previous day. At the same time, he reiterated his commitment to transfer operations against Latin American cartels from the sea to land, without naming countries in which he intends to order strikes, noting that land operations will be easier compared to attacks on vessels at sea.
Trump appeared last on stage, after the members of the “Board of Peace” preceded him, and began his statement by saying that this was “a very exciting day, one that has been in the making for a long time,” his voice sounding hoarse after his long speech in Davos yesterday, lasting more than 70 minutes. He argued that “everyone wants to be a part” of the new organization, noting that most European countries, including the United Kingdom, have not yet signed on. He added that they will work “with many others, including the United Nations.”
Referring to the international agenda, he repeated his rhetoric about ending wars, saying that “we have peace in the Middle East” and that “we have settled eight wars,” estimating that “another one is coming soon,” referring to the war in Ukraine. As he said, it was the conflict that “I thought would be easy,” but “it turned out to be probably the most difficult.” At the same time, he said that “today, the world is richer, safer and much more peaceful than it was a year ago,” and added: “We put out all these fires that many people didn’t know about, including me.”
Finally, Donald Trump referred to Tony Blair, noting that he will not be a member of the Council, but will participate in the Executive Board of the Peace Council, which, as he said, will implement the vision of the body in Gaza. "Thank you, Tony, for being here. We appreciate it," said the US president.
Source: protothema.gr
