“I will be in Washington for the official creation of the peace council and the launch of the activities of this council,” Rama said in an interview with Albanian podcast Flasim.

The board, of which Trump is the chairman, was originally intended to oversee the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip after two years of the Israel-Hamas war, but its charter appears to extend beyond the Palestinian territory.

The first meeting is scheduled to take place on Feb 19 in Washington.

Permanent members of the “Board of Peace” must pay US$1 billion to join, leading to criticisms that the board could become a “pay-to-play” version of the UN Security Council.

Trump launched his “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, and at least 19 countries have signed its founding charter.

Some countries — including Croatia, France, Italy, New Zealand and Norway — have already declined to join it, and others have said they could only consider doing so if its charter were changed.

Rama has previously said his country would not pay to be a permanent member of the initiative.

“Albania has the privilege of being a founding state, and it will not contribute financially to join or remain as a permanent member,” Rama said on Sunday.