The Gulf state has been playing a central role in mediating the return of 53 children forcibly taken by Russia from Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked Qatar for its efforts in reuniting Ukrainian children separated by the ongoing war with Russia during his meeting with the Gulf state’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The meeting with Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Qatar’s foreign minister, took place on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum 2025 in Davos, Switzerland.
“President of Ukraine expressed his appreciation to the State of Qatar’s efforts in reuniting the Ukrainian children with their families in Ukraine as part of its continuous mediation to reunite families separated due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis,” Doha’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The meeting also dealt with cooperation between Doha and Kyiv in addition to the developments in Ukraine and Syria.
Qatar has been playing a central role in mediating the return of 53 children illegally taken from Ukraine by Russia. The first such reunification was carried out on October 16, 2023, when four Ukrainian children were repatriated from Russia.
“Our country greatly values Qatar’s mediation in bringing home 53 of our children forcibly taken from Ukraine by Russia. We look forward to the expansion of this crucial work. We also discussed humanitarian cooperation and food security,” Zelenskyy said on X on Wednesday.
Last year, Qatar hosted a meeting with a Ukrainian delegation in Doha, which resulted in agreements to restore personal documents.
Other major outcomes included facilitating the exchange of lists of missing military personnel, and letters from prisoners of war.
Qatar has maintained a balanced foreign policy since the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, communicating with both sides while repeatedly calling for the need for dialogue to end the conflict.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Zelenskyy invited Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and other world leaders to support his ‘Food from Ukraine’ initiative, which is aimed at providing food aid to Syria.
Ukraine’s humanitarian efforts for Syria come after the fall of the long-time Bashar Al-Assad regime on December 8.
Assad was backed by Ukraine’s rival, Russia, which granted him and his family asylum after he fled Syria after opposition fighters reached the capital, Damascus.
Ukraine had severed ties with Syria in 2022 when Assad’s government recognised the “independence” of territories occupied by Russia in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
On January 2, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine is preparing to restore its ties with Syria after a Ukrainian delegation visited the country.