Poland’s President Andrzej Duda urges global action against Russia’s war in Ukraine during his speech at the Qatar Economic Forum, highlighting potential threats to NATO allies, while Qatar reaffirms its mediation efforts to resolve the conflict.

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda said that the world cannot let Russia win the war in Ukraine.

“The free world must not be allow Russia to win the war in Ukraine,” Duda said at the fourth edition of the Qatar Economic Forum (QEF) powered by Bloomberg staged in Qatar.

The three-day event kicked off on Tuesday with the attendance of more than 1,000 corporate and government leaders.

Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani also graced the halls of the Fairmont Doha in Katara Towers, walking in alongside the Polish president.

Duda argued that Moscow would invade other countries if its forces were victorious in its war on Ukraine, claiming that a fresh military push from Russia in the coming weeks is not out of the picture.

“They are building their sphere of exploitation of other states and nations,” Duda said on Tuesday.

“If they manage to accomplish their goals, they will keep on attacking, they will attack other countries. Perhaps these could be the Baltic states, perhaps this could be Finland, perhaps this could be Poland.”

However, he said, an attack on a neighbouring state was not imminent. He went on to warn at the QEF that NATO allies are vulnerable.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv also on Tuesday to reinforce Washington’s support after delays in billions of dollars of military aid.

From the outset, Russian officials have maintained that the U.S. was using Ukraine to pressure and impose heavy costs on its staunch rival, Russia.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict stepped into its second year on February 24, killing at least 10,000 civilians by the end of 2023 while injuring more than 18,500 others, according to the Center for Civilians in Conflict.

The war has internally displaced at least 6.5 million people while forcing five million others to flee to neighbouring European countries, according to the UN.

Russia maintains that Ukraine is not a country in its own right, rather it is a historical part of Russia.

Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine reached a deal through Qatar’s mediation over the exchange of 48 children displaced by the ongoing conflict between both sides, Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, announced in late April.

Qatar has maintained a balanced foreign policy since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine, communicating with both sides while repeatedly calling for the need for dialogue to end the conflict.

In March 2022, Qatar was among 141 countries that voted on a UN resolution demanding Russia’s “immediate and complete” withdrawal from Ukraine.

Qatar, a seasoned mediator, had previously expressed its openness to facilitate dialogue between rivals Russia and Ukraine “if asked” by its international partners.

“If asked to mediate in the Ukraine conflict, we would of course be ready to work towards facilitating dialogue and achieving peace in Europe,” Qatar’s Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh Al Khulaifi, told Newsweek on October 3, 2023.