The Times of Israel is liveblogging Wednesday’s events as they unfold.

Top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov says that he met US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the Swiss resort of Davos.

Umerov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, says the meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum focused on security guarantees for Ukraine and a post-war recovery plan.

Umerov says a Ukrainian delegation also met representatives of the US investment firm Blackrock, which is involved in rebuilding plans.

DAVOS, Switzerland — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte tells AFP that much work remains on Greenland, after US President Donald Trump announced a framework for a deal to defuse tensions following talks with him.

“I think it was a very good meeting tonight. But there’s still a lot of work to be done,” Rutte says at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

US President Donald Trump reveals that Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted his invitation to join the Board of Peace.

“I have some controversial people on it, but these are people who get the job done. These are people who have tremendous influence,” Trump tells reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “We want all nations where people have control and power.”

“If I put all babies on the board, there wouldn’t be very much. So he was invited. He’s accepted,” Trump says of Putin.

The board is “going to get a lot of work done that the United Nations should have done, and we’ll work with the United Nations,” he adds.

A senior Arab diplomat says Israel’s refusal to allow the Palestinian Authority to play a role in the postwar management of Gaza is what led to Turkey and Qatar filling the vacuum.

Speaking to The Times of Israel on condition of anonymity, the Arab diplomat says that Arab countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia had been more open to involvement and investment in Gaza. However, they conditioned their involvement on a more prominent role for the PA, viewing a foothold for Ramallah in Gaza as essential for reconnecting the territory with the West Bank under a single Palestinian governing entity.

Israel has rejected any role for the PA in Gaza, likening the Ramallah-based body to Hamas and insisting that it must undergo significant reforms.

The Arab diplomat says Arab countries also back reforming the PA and are chaperoning Ramallah through that process. However, he claims that the reform demand from Israel is “disingenuous” and a “guise for Jerusalem’s desire to prevent a two-state solution.

There is particular anger in Riyadh over Israel’s withholding of over $4 billion in tax revenues from the PA, as Saudi Arabia has been called on to help compensate for some of those losses, the Arab diplomat says.

Saudi Arabia will have a representative on US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace and the UAE will have a representative on the intermediate Gaza Executive Board, both panels involved in the oversight of the postwar Strip. However, the Arab diplomat says that the appetite in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi along with their allies in the region for more significant involvement and financial investment in Gaza has decreased significantly.

“There’s a feeling that this isn’t heading in the right direction, so the preference for some countries in the Gulf is to mostly remain on the sidelines,” the Arab diplomat says. “Turkey and Qatar have........

© The Times of Israel