Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Qatar Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani will hold talks in Moscow on Monday.
The meeting may discuss issues related to Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, as well as bilateral relations and the Middle East settlement. Sports could also be one of the topics of discussion, given Moscow and Doha's intentions to sign a memorandum on sports cooperation.
Recent contacts
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the last ministerial contact took place on February 24 in the form of a telephone conversation, in which the sides confirmed the course of Moscow and Doha to maintain a regular political dialogue and discussed bilateral agreements and economic cooperation. At the same time, Lavrov informed his colleague about the Russian special operation.
A day earlier it was reported that Al Thani also held telephone talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, where he called for the avoidance of escalation and also pointed to the need to ensure the safety of civilians, the same week there was a telephone conversation between Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The Qatari foreign minister also held talks with the Taliban delegation (banned in Russia - TASS) and the US Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Thomas West, on the sidelines of a diplomatic forum in Turkish Antalya, where Lavrov and Kuleba met.
The Qatari diplomat also visited Paris in March where he met with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and discussed a wide range of issues, including the situation around Ukraine and the Iranian nuclear deal.
Energy player
Doha maintains active contacts with European countries on the topic of energy, which is also a long-standing area of Russian interest. For example, the day before it was reported that Qatar could be considered in the future as a country supplying natural gas to Europe; it also became known about the intention of Qatar to sell gas to Poland from 2023. The desire to buy fuel from Doha has also been expressed in Iraq, where in February a preliminary agreement was reached on the supply of 1.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas. The Qatari authorities, amid talks that Doha could fully substitute Russian fuel supplies to Europe, stated that Qatar had no such capabilities.
Influence on the Taliban
The situation in Afghanistan could also become a topic of ministerial talks, given Moscow's frequent contacts with Middle Eastern representatives on that front and Doha's influence on the current government in Afghanistan. Through frequent contacts with all major Middle Eastern countries, Doha is making treaties and strengthening cooperation with the Persian Gulf states. Qatar is the country where the Taliban's political office has been located since 2013. Before the Taliban entered Kabul on August 15 last year and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani resigned and left the country, a series of talks were held in Doha between representatives of the radicals, the government of the Islamic republic, as well as the United States, which eventually completed its military mission on Afghan territory by August 30. At the moment, consultations between the leadership of the Taliban and representatives of a number of countries and international organizations are regularly held in the Qatari capital.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS