Greece is taking a cautious approach to US President Donald Trump’s proposal for a new “Peace Council,” with Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis signaling that Athens will move in step with the European Union rather than rush into the initiative.
In a televised interview on Wednesday night, Gerapetritis said Athens needs clarity on how the proposal aligns with the existing UN framework. He pointed to UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which he noted is specifically focused on Gaza and on tackling challenges in and around the Gaza Strip.
The current proposal, he argued, goes further, covering conflicts more broadly and adopting a permanent structure. According to Gerapetritis, this results in a clear gap between the UN mandate and the Peace Council concept currently presented to Greece.
Seven countries including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt say they will join US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, according to a joint statement. They will join Israel, which also publicly confirmed its participation earlier. On Wednesday evening Trump said Vladimir Putin had also agreed to join, but the Russian President said his country was still studying the invitation.
The board was originally thought to be aimed at helping end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and oversee reconstruction. However, its proposed charter does not mention the Palestinian territory and appears to be designed to supplant functions of the UN.
Greece aligns with Brussels on Trump’s Peace Council
The Greek FM has said the EU does not currently support joining the Peace Council, stressing that Greece will follow the European position. Athens, he added, will remain fully engaged within the Union and will not break from a common European line.
If EU member states take different paths later, Greece will reassess its stance at that point, he maintained, while staying anchored in political reality.
Greece maintains strong ties with Washington despite differences over Trump’s Peace Council
Despite Greece’s reservations, Athens views its strategic relationship with the United States as “excellent,” Gerapetritis said, pledging continued investment in the partnership. At the same time, he emphasized Europe’s responsibility in defending its sovereignty and pointed to Greenland as a clear example. Since Greenland belongs to an EU member state, he said, any threat to its sovereignty would trigger a united European response.
He described Greece’s overall approach as “value-based realism,” arguing that shifting international norms cannot override core principles. Greece, he said, will preserve multilateralism and the rules-based international order at the center of its foreign policy.
A message against power politics
Gerapetritis has said Greece will support any EU country that faces pressure or threats in the future. He added that Europe only carries real weight when it acts as a unified bloc.
He also argued that stable rules underpin global order and warned against accepting a world driven by brute power. Today’s choices, he said, shape tomorrow’s precedents. Greece, he added, recognizes only one consistent path: the universal application of international law.
Turkey talks continue but agenda remains contested
On Greece’s relations with Turkey, Gerapetritis said Athens has expanded its diplomatic footprint and confirmed that the next High-Level Cooperation Council meeting will take place in Ankara in the first half of February.
Greece, he asserted, wants dialogue with Turkey but insisted the country will not retreat from its national positions. He also said Greece and Turkey can lower tensions through direct engagement without third-party involvement. No outside actor has intervened, he said, and the dialogue has functioned for the past two and a half years.
However, the two sides still disagree on the scope of discussions. Greece insists talks should focus solely on delimiting the continental shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), an issue Greece says it can take to international courts. If Turkey pushes additional issues, the Greek FM said, the two sides remain far apart.
In relation to Greece’s territorial waters, Gerapetritis has said the government will bring the issue to Parliament when the time is right. Greece, he added, retains the sovereign right to extend its territorial waters whenever it considers it appropriate in line with international law.