Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman said reunion efforts were part of the Gulf state’s attempts to bring peace to Russia and Ukraine.

Qatar has successfully facilitated the reunification of 10 Ukrainian and four Russian children displaced by the Russia-Ukraine war with their families.

During the weekly press conference at the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), official spokesperson Majed Al Ansari confirmed that the children were received at the Qatari embassy in Moscow.

Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, welcomed the children at the embassy alongside Qatar’s Ambassador Sheikh Ahmed bin Nasser Al-Thani.

“There are eight boys, ages 12 to 17, and one 17-year-old girl. She had been living with her grandmother in Crimea but wanted to reunite with her mother in Kyiv, so we facilitated her return,” Lvova-Belova wrote on Telegram, thanking Qatar’s mediators for their support.

Since July 2023, Qatar has helped to reunite up to 48 children with their families, according to the MoFA spokesperson.

“This mediation, in which we praise the cooperation between both parties to ensure that these children reach their families, is undoubtedly part of Qatar’s effort to the framework of achieving peace in general, and specifically this issue, since the beginning of this war,” Al Ansari said.

Kyiv has accused Moscow of abducting about 20,000 Ukrainian children and minors since Russia began its invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine claims that fewer than 400 of these children have been returned, a claim that Russia denies, stating that it has relocated the children from war zones.

On October 16, 2023, Qatar facilitated the first repatriation of four Ukrainian children from Russia following a Ukrainian request. 

Since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, Qatar has pursued a balanced foreign policy, engaging with both nations and advocating for dialogue to resolve the conflict.

No link between Gaza and Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire talks

Separately, Al Ansari said Qatar was working with its partners to ensure an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon and work the way back from the current escalation.

He also said it was too early to put an official mediation process in place between Israel and Hezbollah.

“I don’t think we can say there’s a formal mediation track now, rather than all channels of communication remain open,” he said.

Israel and Hezbollah have engaged in ongoing exchanges of fire in a cross-border conflict that has only intensified day by day. Israel’s attacks on Lebanon have led to the deaths of more than 620 people and displaced approximately 500,000 others.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has rejected calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon following French and U.S proposals for a 21-day halt to make time to reach a diplomatic solution.

The sentiments were also mirrored by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who took to X to say “news about a ceasefire is not true,” and pledged to carry on the bombardment on Lebanon and the war on Gaza until ” the goals of the war are achieved”.

Qatar has repeatedly warned of the risk of regional fallout as a direct result of Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, which is nearing its one-year mark.

The Gulf state, alongside the United States and Egypt, has been acting as a mediator o facilitate Gaza ceasefire talks, but Al Ansari said there is no connection to efforts made towards a truce between Hezbollah and Israel.

“I’m not aware of a direct link, but obviously both mediations are hugely overlapping when you are talking about the same parties, for the most part, that are taking part,” the foreign ministry spokesman said.