DOHA, March 8. /TASS/. A solution to the conflict in Ukraine should take into account the legitimate concerns of both Moscow and Kiev, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, stated.
"I believe that the steps that have been taken are the right steps, and basically the way it ends it should be the way that addresses both countries' concerns," he said in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson. "The Ukrainians have legitimate concerns that they need to address, and the Russians have legitimate concerns that the Ukrainians need to address," the Qatari prime minister added.
"Now, if you look at the recent efforts that [US] President [Donald] Trump is doing together with the Kingdom of Saudi, I believe this is the right direction," he went on to say.
Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was confident that the Ukrainian crisis could not be resolved without direct talks between the parties, and "also some demonstration of support from the partners of both Ukraine and Russia." "The partners’ role is to give them the assurances and the comfort that those considerations will be taken seriously," he noted.
Commenting on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s statement about the UK’s readiness to send troops to Ukraine as part of efforts to settle the conflict, the top Qatari diplomat pointed out that "it's an issue between Russia and Ukraine, and they need to address it themselves." "They need to get the assurances that, you know, both countries need," he said, adding that the EU would eventually come to understand that the issue needed to be resolved peacefully, with everyone’s concerns taken into consideration.
Qatar has been acting as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine, assisting the return of children evacuated from the combat zone to their families. On February 14, another two children returned to Russia from Ukraine through the mediation of the Qatari embassy in Moscow and Russian Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova. Qatar has so far helped 17 children from 11 families reunite with their loved ones in Russia and assisted 95 kids from 75 families in reuniting with their relatives in Ukraine and other countries.