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Israeli premier says won't come to US for inaugural Board of Peace meeting

Benjamin Netanyahu will participate in the annual AIPAC conference virtually, and, therefore, will not fly to Washington next week

TEL AVIV, February 12. /TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not travel to Washington next week for the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace, his office said.

The administration pointed out that the premier is scheduled to participate in a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). "Prime Minister Netanyahu will participate in the annual AIPAC conference virtually, and, therefore, will not fly to Washington next week," his office said in a statement.

On January 22, 19 countries signed the Charter of the Board of Peace on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The body was created as part of efforts to resolve the situation in the Gaza Strip. The Board of Peace was established based on an agreement between Israel and the radical Palestinian movement Hamas to govern the Gaza Strip, but it is also supposed to prevent and settle conflicts in other regions.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Moscow was currently formulating its position regarding the Board of Peace and was considering "how warily many countries in the West and the East, including permanent members of the UN Security Council, have reacted to this idea."

President Vladimir Putin stated earlier that Russia is ready to spend $1 billion from assets frozen in the US on the Board of Peace. He said Moscow is willing to do so even before it decides whether or not it will join the initiative.