Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed U.S. President Donald Trump’s initiative to establish a “Peace Council” in the context of the Gaza Strip with members of Russia’s Security Council.
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to establish a “Peace Council” for the Gaza Strip, as well as Russia’s invitation to participate in the council extended by the U.S. leader, during a meeting with members of the Russian Security Council. Putin stated that Moscow would respond to the invitation after a review by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and consultations with strategic partners.
“As for the Peace Council, it is true that we received a personal message from the President of the United States, Donald Trump, containing an invitation to join a new international structure being established on his own initiative, namely the Peace Council. On this occasion, first of all, I would like to thank the U.S. President for this proposal. We have always supported and will continue to support all efforts aimed at strengthening international stability.
The proposal addressed to us primarily refers to a solution in the Middle East, the search for possible ways to resolve the urgent problems of the Palestinian people, and the alleviation of the extremely severe humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. In this context, I would like to emphasize the most important point: the key issue is that this entire process should have a positive impact on a long-term settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on relevant United Nations resolutions.
Therefore, even though we have not yet made a decision on whether to participate in the work of the Peace Council, taking into account Russia’s special relations with the Palestinian people, I believe that already at this stage we could redirect 1 billion U.S. dollars from Russian assets that were frozen during the previous U.S. administration to the Peace Council.”
“Meanwhile, the remaining portion of other Russian assets frozen in the United States could, following the signing of a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, be used for the reconstruction of regions damaged by the conflict. This possibility is also being discussed with representatives of the U.S. administration.
Tomorrow, during the meeting we are planning with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as with U.S. representatives Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who are expected to arrive in Moscow tomorrow to continue dialogue on the Ukrainian settlement, I plan to discuss all of these issues in detail.”
“Now, turning to the Greenland issue. Frankly, what is happening in Greenland does not concern us at all. However, we do have experience in resolving such matters with the United States. In the 19th century, I believe in 1867, as we know, Russia sold Alaska to the United States, and the U.S. purchased Alaska from us.
If I am not mistaken, Alaska’s area is 1,717,000 square kilometers, perhaps slightly more. The United States purchased Alaska from us for 7.2 million U.S. dollars. Of course, this figure should be checked again, but I believe this is correct. If we calculate this amount at today’s prices and take into account inflation over all these decades, it would amount to around 158 million dollars.
Greenland’s area is somewhat larger—about 2,166,000 square kilometers, again perhaps slightly more. The difference is roughly 450,000–449,000 square kilometers. Therefore, if we compare this with the price paid by the United States for Alaska, the price for Greenland would be approximately 200–250 million dollars. If compared in terms of gold prices of that period, the amount would probably come close to 1 billion dollars. But I believe the United States would be able to afford even that figure.”
U.S. President’s Special Envoy Steven Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to arrive in Moscow on Thursday to continue dialogue on Ukraine.
Witkoff previously told Bloomberg that significant progress had been made in recent weeks regarding the Ukraine crisis. According to earlier reports by the agency, the American delegation aims to discuss security guarantees with Kyiv and present draft plans for ending the conflict.
Witkoff and Kushner met with Putin at the Kremlin in early December. The parties discussed the core principles of the U.S. peace initiative on Ukraine but failed to reach a common understanding.