Qatar pledges $100 in humanitarian aid for Ukraine to support health, education projects

Europe, Middle East, News July 30, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Qatar has pledged to provide Ukraine with $100 million in humanitarian aid to support health and education projects in the war-torn country. The announcement came during the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani’s visit to Kyiv on July 28, 2023.

Prime Minister Al Thani, who is also Qatar’s foreign minister, traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

During their bilateral meeting, Sheikh Mohammed and Denys Shmyhal discussed the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and its impact on Ukraine’s economic and social well-being. The two prime ministers also spoke about global food security against the backdrop of Russia’s unilateral withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal.

Earlier this month, Russia unilaterally pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 and expired on July 17, 2023. The grain agreement was reached to alleviate a global food crisis after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The deal brought immense relief to developing countries, especially African nations, which rely on Ukrainian exports and WFP. A UN body has warned that the termination of the deal could push as many as 47 million people into “acute food insecurity”.

Qatar Pledges USD 100 Million for Humanitarian Assistance to Ukraine

🔗To learn more : https://t.co/UMjxy8UT90 #MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/JDTG2ofD6z
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) July 28, 2023

“Together with the Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, we noted the importance of resuming the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the need to continue the implementation of the Grain from Ukraine initiative,” Shmyhal said following the meeting.

He also highlighted that Qatar’s humanitarian aid “will be channeled for reconstruction in the health and education sectors, humanitarian de-mining, and other important social and humanitarian projects.”

Qatar to assist in returning Ukrainian children from Russia

The Ukrainian Prime Minister announced that the State of Qatar is ready to assist in returning the Ukrainian children held by Russia.

Prime Minister Shmyhal said during his post-meeting press briefing, “We are grateful to the State of Qatar for its readiness to make mediation efforts in the return of Ukrainian children illegally taken by Russia and still kept on its territory.”

Ukrainian officials alleged Russian forces of abducting as many as 20,000 children from the captured territories, with the intent of erasing their Ukrainian identity. Independent sources claim that at least 6,000 Ukrainian children have been captured by Russia while Moscow officials debate the numbers to be very few.

Ukraine’s peace plan

During his meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed offered Qatar’s support to implement Ukraine’s peace formula; a 10-point peace plan aimed at ending Russia’s on Ukraine.

The peace plan was presented by Zelenskyy on November 15, 2023. It calls for nuclear, energy, and food security, and the restoration of Ukraine’s international borders.

^{A Qatari delegation led by Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani meeting with a Ukrainian delegation led by the First Lady of Ukraine. (Image Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar)}

Following his meeting with the Qatari prime minister, President Zelenskyy thanked Qatar for supporting our country and providing humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people. “The most important thing is that Qatar will be with us in the implementation of the Peace Formula, joining the global effort,” Zelenskyy said in a short video message.