Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday, January 20, signed a document to join the “Peace Council”, a body created by US President Donald Trump to help broker a settlement in the Gaza Strip and around the world, reported Belarusian state news agency BelTA.
The Telegram channel “Pul Pervogo,” which is close to Lukashenko’s press service, posted a photo of the document. In it, an address to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio states that Belarus accepts the Peace Council’s charter.
Reuters noted the move marks another step in Minsk’s rapprochement with Washington after years of international isolation.
In 2025, Trump began easing sanctions on Belarus following the release of several political prisoners. The US president also called Lukashenko a “highly respected president.”
A draft charter sent by the US administration to about 60 countries proposes that members contribute $1 billion (€853 million) in cash if they want their membership to last more than three years, Reuters reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed he had received an invitation from Trump to join and said Ukrainian diplomats are studying the proposal.
“For me it’s very hard to imagine how we and Russia will be together in one council or another. And this is not about this Council (of Peace). It’s just that Russia is about a ‘council of war.’ And Belarus along with it,” Ukrainska Pravda quoted Zelensky as saying.
Trump initially pitched the Peace Council as a body to address the conflict in the Middle East. In October 2025, it received a corresponding UN mandate.
But the US president appears to be seeking to broaden the Council’s remit. The Gaza Strip wasn’t mentioned at all in the founding charter that the White House sent to world leaders on January 16 along with invitations to join. Instead, the first paragraph of the preamble asserts that ensuring sustainable peace requires “abandoning approaches and institutions that too often have failed.”
The document doesn’t mention the UN in this context, but Trump has repeatedly criticized the organization, accusing it of inaction.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accepted an invitation to join the Peace Council, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on January 18. The next day, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also accepted Trump’s invitation “with sincere gratitude,” according to his spokesperson Ruslan Zheldibay, adding Tokayev aims to contribute to durable peace in the Middle East, stronger interstate trust and global stability.
Germany received an invitation from Trump to take part in the Peace Council on the Gaza Strip and is ready to discuss with the US and partners how to achieve a long-term settlement, the German government said. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin received a similar invitation on January 19, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. Moscow has not yet responded.
In all, Trump has invited about 60 countries to the Peace Council, according to media reports. Invitees include leaders of Turkey, Canada, Uzbekistan, several EU countries and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Also named to the structure are US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US special envoy Steven Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, World Bank President Ajay Banga and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Trump will chair the body. Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov has been appointed High Representative for the Gaza Strip.
News of the Peace Council’s formation came shortly after the announcement of a 15-member Palestinian technocratic administration tasked with managing day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip.
