Russian President Vladimir Putin says he's ready to put money into President Trump's new Gaza reconstruction effort—if Washington first hands back Russian funds that are locked down. In a Kremlin meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, Putin said Moscow could channel $1 billion into Trump's proposed Board of Peace to help Palestinians and rebuild Gaza, but only by tapping Russian assets frozen inside the United States.
Those funds were blocked as part of Western sanctions after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The US is holding about $5 billion of the roughly $300 billion in Russian state assets immobilized worldwide, most of which are held in Europe. "I think this is quite possible," Putin said of redirecting the held-up money to the Trump-backed initiative, adding that he planned to discuss the idea later on Thursday in Moscow with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Putin said a day earlier that Moscow had received a direct invitation from Trump to join the board, and that he'd tasked Russia's Foreign Ministry with examining the proposal in consultation with "strategic partners." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters it remains unclear how any unfreezing of Russian assets in the US could be structured under existing law. Still, he framed the offer as a signal that Moscow expects its money back at some point. Russia, he said, has not "lost all hope that our assets will be returned. We will continue our fight, and we will defend our rights."
CNBC takes a look at the countries that have already clambered onto the Board of Peace, including the United Arab Emirates, Hungary, Bahrain, Morocco, Argentina, Pakistan, and Jordan, among others. Some of the big names that haven't yet signed on: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. Regarding the UK, the BBC reports that its foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, has indicated that her nation is hedging mainly due to concerns over Russia's participation.
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