US president says Putin accepted to join 'Board of Peace'

• "Putin was invited, he's accepted. Many people have," says Trump.
• Trump admits some figures asked to join board "controversial".
• Dozens of leaders invited with request for $1bn permanent seat.
  

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that Russia's Vladimir Putin had agreed to join his controversial "Board of Peace" — despite the Kremlin so far saying it was still studying the invite.

"He was invited, he's accepted. Many people have accepted," Trump told reporters in Davos, Switzerland, referring to his so-far vaguely defined grouping of world leaders.

Asked about criticism that he is reaching out to non-democratic figures, Trump said some were "controversial" but "if I put all babies on the board, it wouldn't be very much".

In Moscow, Putin told a cabinet meeting that he had ordered his foreign ministry to study the proposal.

"The Russian foreign ministry has been charged with studying the documents that were sent to us and to consult on the topic with our strategic partners," Putin said during a televised government meeting.

"It is only after that we'll be able to reply to the invitation," he said.

He said that Russia could pay the billion dollars being asked for permanent membership "from the Russian assets frozen under the previous American administration".

He added that the assets could also be used "to reconstruct the territories damaged by the hostilities, after the conclusion of a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine".

Invites were sent to dozens of world leaders with a request for $1 billion for a permanent seat on the board.

Although originally meant to oversee Gaza's rebuilding, the board's charter does not seem to limit its role to the Strip and appears to want to rival the United Nations, drawing the ire of some US allies including France.