MOSCOW, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed an agreement on Tuesday to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, the latest step in a rapprochement with Washington after years of international isolation.
A presidential Telegram channel published video of Lukashenko signing the document, and quoted him as saying he hoped to contribute towards peace in Ukraine.
Lukashenko, in power since 1994, was long shunned by the West because of his poor human rights record and backing for Russian President Vladimir Putin in the war in Ukraine.
But Trump last year began easing sanctions on Belarus in return for the release of political prisoners. He has called Lukashenko a “highly respected” leader – a description that jars with the exiled Belarus opposition, which sees him as a dictator.
The invitation to join the Board of Peace marked a further stage in the U.S. rehabilitation of Lukashenko as it continues to negotiate with him on further prisoner releases and a normalisation of ties.
Trump originally proposed establishing the Board when he announced his plan last September to end the war in Gaza. But an invitation sent to world leaders last week outlines a broad role for the body in ending conflicts globally.
A draft charter sent to about 60 countries by the U.S. administration calls for members to contribute $1 billion in cash if they want their membership to last more than three years, according to the document seen by Reuters.
On Monday Trump said he had invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a member of the Board.
On Tuesday, Armenia said it would also join. Trump has claimed credit for ending a long-running conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have fought two wars since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark TrevelyanEditing by Gareth Jones)
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