Qatar-Saudi appeal to the international community to pay equal attention to Arab-Gulf nations as Ukraine

Doha: The Ukraine population is suffering given the war, which is a topic of discussion for the international community. But a similar conversation is not seen at the international level regarding the plight of the Syrian, Palestinian, Libyan, Iraqi and Afghan populations. Saudi and Qatar expressed an expectation that equal importance will also be given to the issues in their sector as the Ukraine problem.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, the Foreign Minister of Qatar, presented his stand regarding the Ukraine war frankly during the Doha Forum meeting held in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The population of Ukraine is suffering the dire consequences of the war and this is being discussed on the international level. The Foreign Minister of Qatar criticised that similar reactions are not received on the international level regarding the plight of the Syrian, Palestinian, Libyan, Iraqi and Afghan populations. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan endorsed the accusations levelled by the Foreign Minister of Qatar.

The closeness among the transatlantic countries came to the fore after the Ukraine war, which is appreciable. Saudi Foreign Minister said that they feel that the westerners better have similar cooperative relations with the rest of the world. Meanwhile, the concurrence between Saudi and Qatar, which had an aggressive stand against each other a few months ago, becomes noteworthy. Ukrainian President Zelensky had held talks with Qatar and appealed that Qatar should increase natural gas production and supply it to the European countries.

European countries are dependent on Russia for their fuel requirements. This is preventing them from adopting a harsh stand against Russia. Therefore, President Zelensky said that Qatar should increase natural gas production and replace Russia. The United States also is pressurising Qatar for the same purpose. The United States had exerted pressure even on Saudi for this purpose. But Qatar has warned that Qatar cannot replace Russia, which supplies fuels on a massive scale to Europe. Saudi also dismissed the US demand and refused to increase oil production. This indicates that the oil-rich countries and Saudi and Qatar are not willing to displease Russia, relying on the United States.

But the Gulf countries have realised that they need to stand united against the US pressure. This is reflected in the Doha Forum; besides, Saudi and Qatar seem to have started cooperating with each other, setting aside the intense differences between them.