MOSCOW - Russian officials on Thursday publicly questioned the relationship between the new U.S.-backed Board of Peace and the United Nations Security Council, the body that has been central to multilateral peacemaking since the end of World War Two.
The Board of Peace was first proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in September when he laid out his plan to end Israel's war in Gaza. Mr. Trump later indicated the board's remit would expand to address other conflicts around the world - areas of responsibility that have traditionally fallen within the U.N.'s remit.
Russia underscored that the United States is the only permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to have joined the board. The other permanent council members are Russia, China, Britain and France.
Kirill Logvinov, director of the international organisations department at the Russian foreign ministry, told the state news agency TASS that the board's founding document frames the new institution as intended to replace "mechanisms that have too often proved ineffective." He said the board's charter does not mention Gaza, a point he reiterated in an interview.
"It is clear that this approach raises questions about how the Board of Peace will coexist with the United Nations and its Security Council, which is the only universally recognised body for maintaining international peace and security," Logvinov said.
Logvinov also repeated Russia's observation that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had not been invited to the board's meetings to date.
The board's charter states it will carry out "peace-building functions in accordance with international law." The document grants its chairman - President Trump - significant executive authority, including powers to veto decisions and to remove members, subject to certain constraints.
The U.N. describes the Security Council as the primary organ responsible for maintaining international peace and security. The council held its first meeting in London in 1946 and is headquartered in New York.
The questions voiced by Moscow focus on institutional overlap and procedural legitimacy as a new, U.S.-led body proposes to operate in an arena long dominated by the Security Council. Russian officials emphasised missing reference points in the board's mandate and procedural exclusions, such as the absence of an invitation to the U.N. secretary-general, as grounds for concern.