Qatar is negotiating with Russia to return Ukrainian children abducted during the war on Ukraine, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani said.

“Qatar has been mediating in different conflicts that not only exclusive to the region. But even beyond that. And this is something that’s been in the foundation of the country foreign policy. And it’s- it’s a core element- element that we are focusing on. And this- we see that this is a con-tribution of such a small country to international peace and security,” he said in an interview with CBS News.

He added: “We carried out this role based on the request at the beginning, from the Ukrainian in our constant exchange and communication with them, how we are able to help and we use the channels of communication and the relationship that we have with Russia to secure those four kids. And this, these efforts are- has been ongoing and still continuing. And we are hoping also for another group to come back to their families before the holidays, hopefully.”

Qatar had announced in October 16 the reunification process of Ukrainian children with their families in Ukraine. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry facilitated the hosting of the children and their fami-lies at the Qatari Embassy in Moscow during the operation and accompanied them to their des-tination, ensuring their safety, comfort, and well-being.

Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said last week that Qatar was ready to act as a mediator in the process of returning Ukrainian civilian hostages who have been deported to Russia or stay in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, as cited by state news agency Ukrinform.

“Qatar is ready to participate in the return of not only Ukrainian children, but also civilian hos-tages. I can already say that. We had multiple communications. The only thing is that we did not manage to return the children at the pace at which we would like to return them. There are many more children. But we are working. We have a lot of separate stories in the works now,” Lubinets said.