Some countries agreed to attend the meeting, including Argentina, headed by Javier Mele, and Hungary, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, while other countries announced their refusal to participate, including France, Italy, Norway, the Czech Republic, and Croatia.
In this context, Romanian President Nicholas Dan announced on Sunday via his Facebook account that he had received an invitation to attend the meeting, noting that his country had not yet made a decision regarding participation in the first session of the "Peace Council".
Dan explained that the decision is related to "ongoing discussions with our American partners about the format of the meeting with countries like Romania, which is not a member of the council but wishes to join it, provided that its charter is reviewed."
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban confirmed on Saturday that he had received an official invitation to participate, announcing his intention to attend the meeting.
In contrast, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš announced that he does not intend to join the "Peace Council," telling the private TV Nova network: "We will act in consultation with the other EU member states, some of which have said they will not join the council."
According to Trump’s plan to end the war on the Gaza Strip, the “National Committee for the Administration of Gaza” is scheduled to temporarily manage the affairs of the Strip, under the supervision of the “Peace Council” headed by the US President.
However, the Council’s charter does not include an explicit reference to Gaza, and gives it a broader objective of contributing to the resolution of armed conflicts around the world.
The preamble to the charter indirectly criticizes the United Nations by emphasizing the need for the "Peace Council" to have "the courage to abandon approaches and institutions that have often failed."
This has sparked discontent among a number of international leaders, most notably French President Emmanuel Macron and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who earlier in the week called for strengthening the role of the United Nations in response to the US president's initiative.
In Italy, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani reiterated that his country would not join the "Peace Council" due to "insurmountable" constitutional obstacles.
Tajani told the Italian news agency ANSA on Saturday: "We cannot participate in the Peace Council because of constitutional restrictions," explaining that the Italian constitution does not allow joining an organization led by a single leader.
In Brazil, President Lula da Silva accused his American counterpart on Friday of seeking to install himself as "master of a new United Nations," defending multilateralism against what he described as the growing "unilateralism."
Lula expressed his regret over what he called "the tearing up of the United Nations Charter."
On January 15, Trump announced the establishment of the “Peace Council,” which is part of a plan he put forward for the Gaza Strip, according to which the first phase of stopping the genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinians began on October 10, 2025.
Washington's announcement of the council's establishment came a day after US envoy Steve Wittkopf announced the start of the start of the second phase of Trump's 20-point plan on Gaza.
This phase stipulates the formation of transitional management structures: the Peace Council, the (Palestinian) National Committee, the Gaza Executive Council, and the International Stabilization Force.
It also stipulates the disarmament of Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian factions, the implementation of a further withdrawal of the Israeli occupation army from Gaza, and the commencement of reconstruction efforts, which the United Nations estimates will cost around $70 billion.
While the first phase included a ceasefire and an exchange of Israeli prisoners for Palestinian prisoners, Tel Aviv violated the agreement daily, resulting in the martyrdom of 483 Palestinians.
Internationally, the Peace Council was mandated by UN Security Council Resolution 2803 in November 2025.
Trump is chairing the council, and to achieve his vision, a founding executive council was formed comprising leaders with experience in diplomacy, development, infrastructure, and economic strategy, according to the White House.
Although the “Peace Council” emerged from the ruins of the Israeli genocide of Gaza, its charter makes no mention of the Palestinian territory, where some 2.4 million people, including 1.5 million displaced persons, live in catastrophic conditions.
