From the Liveblog of Monday, February 23, 2026

Board of Peace’s Mladenov discusses Gaza with wary EU diplomats in Brussels

The European Union’s top diplomats meet in Brussels with the director of the Board of Peace after a shaky and controversial embrace of US President Donald Trump’s efforts to secure and rebuild the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

Nikolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian politician and UN diplomat chosen by Trump to manage the Board of Peace, meets EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and foreign ministers from across the 27-nation bloc.

“We want to be part of the peace process in Gaza and also contribute with what we have,” Kallas said ahead of the meeting.

She says Mladenov updated diplomats on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the Board of Peace’s activities and strategy, which included an EU presence in stabilization and humanitarian efforts.

“It was good to hear from Mladenov that it’s really right now trying to improve the situation, that he sees this in the same way, that actually they also need us there contributing,” Kallas says.

One EU nation blocked new sanctions on Israeli settlers agreed by the rest of the bloc, she says, without naming the holdout. The EU’s planned training of Palestinian police in Gaza is awaiting approval by Israel, Kallas adds.

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