Starmer Snubs Trump's Gaza 'Board of Peace' at Davos Over Broader Concerns

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has opted not to join US President Donald Trump's newly launched "Board of Peace," a decision that signals diplomatic distance and underscores transatlantic tensions over the initiative's scope. While the UK government has expressed support for the US-backed 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stated the UK would not be a signatory to the board's founding charter in Davos. The primary reasons cited were concerns about the board's potential to evolve into a broad "legal treaty" and the involvement of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose inclusion was seen as incompatible with efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine.

The Board of Peace was initially conceived as part of Trump's Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, endorsed by the UN Security Council in November 2025. Its original mandate was to provide strategic oversight and mobilise resources for Gaza's stabilisation, reconstruction, and transition to Palestinian-led governance. However, the initiative has since expanded. President Trump has framed it as a body for resolving international conflicts beyond Gaza, with a potential $1 billion price tag for permanent membership and suggested it could work alongside or even rival the United Nations.

This ambiguity and the invitation to leaders like Putin have led several traditional US allies, including France, Norway, and Sweden, to withhold participation. The UK's snub, therefore, places Starmer among European leaders cautious of a project they fear could undermine existing multilateral institutions and international law. The ceremony in Davos proceeded with representatives from fewer than 20 countries, primarily from the Middle East, South America, and other regions, but without any of America's Western European allies.