Qatar won’t invest in Russia until there is ‘more political stability’

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Qatar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, told CNN’s Becky Anderson in an interview that investment in Russia is currently “under a lot of review,” and Qatar is not considering increasing its investments there until there is a “better environment and more political stability.”

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“Right now with the current situation we are not thinking about any new investments there. Even in Europe, until we have some clarity on the stability of the situation … Well, not entire Europe, but the areas where we are feeling that there are some tensions or we might have any political risk, because we have to look at it from all the dimensions,” on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, Al-Thani told CNN.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has significant stakes in the Russian oil giant Rosneft, which Al-Thani stated was based on “commercial assessment and is still ongoing,” but will not be increased for the time being.

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While Qatar opposes any act of aggression or use of force against a sovereign country, the Emir said he has kept dialogue channels open with all sides. He stated that he interacts with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts on a regular basis to “offer our help or contribution to de-escalate the situation and put an end to this war,” and that he just met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

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“What I believe and from my conversation with my counterpart there in Russia is that they are willing to engage on the demands that they have put forward. Now, how far the Ukrainian government is willing to give on those demands, this is really the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian people’s decision … We should focus on having a ceasefire, humanitarian corridors, bringing the humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and instead of having this conflict and disagreement in a battlefield, to be around the table,” he added.

Qatar has regularly worked as a mediator in de-escalating crises and bringing adversaries to the bargaining table, most notably over the JCPOA between the Taliban and the US and the West and Iran. According to CNN, the Foreign Minister believes that this is the best course of action.