Qatar is negotiating with Russia to return another group of deported Ukrainian children - Prime Minister

Qatar has announced that it is negotiating with the aggressor state of Russia to return Ukrainian children illegally deported during the full-scale invasion to Ukraine. It is hoped that another group of young Ukrainians may return to their families on the eve of the New Year holidays.

This was stated by the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, in an interview with CBS News. Qatar has already helped to return four Ukrainian children, and efforts to free other Ukrainian citizens are ongoing.

He emphasized that Qatar uses communication channels and relations with Russia to achieve this.

Al Thani noted that the state acts as a mediator in various conflicts. For example, Qatar mediated the exchange of hostages between Hamas and Israel. According to him, this is a key component of the country's foreign policy.

"We played this role based on a request from the Ukrainians at the very beginning in our constant exchange and communication with them on how we can help, and we use the channels of communication and the relations we have with Russia," the Prime Minister said, adding that these efforts are also ongoing.

According to him, Qatar hopes that it will be possible to agree on another group of children to return to their families before the holidays.

At the same time, Al Thani did not specify which group of Ukrainian children he was talking about.

"The numbers are not clear yet, so I will not disclose them until we complete this process," he summarized.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, in late October it became known that Russia agreed to return four deported minors aged 2 to 17 to Ukraine. This happened due to secret negotiations in which Qatar acted as an intermediary.

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