Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be absent from the first Peace Council meeting, which is expected to be held on February 19 in Washington, Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis told reporters.
Marinakis noted that Mitsotakis will not participate in the Peace Council meeting, citing two trips that the Greek prime minister will take in the near future.
“The prime minister's itinerary currently includes the United Arab Emirates and India. These are two very important visits for Greek foreign policy and national interests that have been planned for a long time,“ Marinakis explained. “There is nothing else, so what you asked me about is not on the prime minister's itinerary. "If other information emerges, I will respond later," the government spokesman added.
Earlier in January, Marinakis said that Greece considered participation in the Gaza Peace Council to be a complex legal issue. A cabinet spokesman said that consultations with European partners were underway.
Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, for his part, also confirmed that Greece had received an invitation from the US President to become a founding member of the Gaza Peace Council and that all relevant documents were being carefully reviewed.
According to Reuters, the US administration will present a multi-billion dollar plan for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the formation of an international stabilization force at the first meeting of the Peace Council, which is expected to be held on February 19 in Washington.
On January 22, representatives of 19 countries signed the Charter of the Peace Council, established as part of the peace process in the Gaza Strip, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Washington announced that other countries had joined the organization. The Peace Council was established in accordance with an agreement between Israel and the radical Palestinian movement Hamas to govern Gaza, but it is also expected to focus on preventing and resolving conflicts in other regions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier said that Russia was ready to transfer $1 billion of its frozen assets in the United States to the Peace Council. He said that Moscow was ready to do so even before deciding on its membership and work in the new body.