[arista]

Trump Now Live in Davos
pushing this
Tony Blair is seated




[Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said
the UK will not yet be signing up to
US President Donald Trump's proposed
Board of Peace over concerns about
Russian leader Vladimir Putin's possible
participation.

Cooper told the BBC the UK had been invited
to join the board but "won't be one of the
signatories today" at a planned ceremony
at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The foreign secretary described the board
as a "legal treaty that raises much broader issues"
than the initiative's initial focus on
ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The charter proposed by the White House
does not mention the Palestinian territory
and appears to be designed to replace
some functions of the United Nations.

Countries including Saudi Arabia,
Turkey, Egypt and Israel have said they
will become members of the board,
and at Davos, President Trump said Putin had
accepted an invitation to join the initiative.
But President Putin has not confirmed this and earlier
he said his country was still studying the invitation.

Speaking to the BBC's Breakfast programme
from Davos, Cooper said the UK had received
an invitation to join the board and strongly
supported Trump's 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza.

"That's why we are also clear we want to play
our part in phase two of the
Gaza peace process," Cooper said.
But she added: "We won't be one of the
signatories today because this is a legal treaty
that raises much broader issues.

"And we do also have concerns about
President Putin being part of something
that's talking about peace when we've still
not seen any signs from Putin that there
will be commitment to peace in Ukraine."
She said Putin had shown no willingness
"to come and make that agreement and that's where
the pressure needs to be now".

"But we will have continuing international
discussions including with our allies,"
the foreign secretary said.

Diplomatic relations between the US and the UK
are on shakier ground after Trump threatened
to impose tariffs on European nations
if his demand to hand control of Greenland
to his country was not met.]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp9jj1j74ggo