The international consultations began with a narrow-format meeting. Russia is represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, First Deputy Prime Minister and Chair of the Russian Chapter of the Joint Russia-Qatar Commission on Trade, Economic and Technical Cooperation Denis Manturov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina and Rosneft CEO and Chairman of the Management Board Igor Sechin.
The talks continued in an expanded format as an official breakfast. After the meeting, a ceremony to exchange documents signed following the talks was held in the present of Vladimir Putin and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
The documents signed included an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in healthcare, medical education and medical science, interagency memoranda of understanding on the development of public financial management system and on promoting physical fitness and sports. A partnership agreement was signed with the Qatar Investment Authority to set up a new US$2 billion Russian-Qatari investment platform.
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Beginning of Russia-Qatar talks in narrow format
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Your Highness, friends,
Welcome to Moscow.
Your Highness, I believe the last time you visited us was in 2018, or a long time ago. We are delighted to welcome you once again in the capital of Russia.
Our relations are growing stronger. The Intergovernmental Commission recently met in Doha, and I believe the meeting was very useful. Qatar is one of Russia’s priority partners, especially in the Middle East. Our bilateral relations are built on long-standing and good traditions.
Although our trade is limited, Qatar remains one of the key partners of Rosneft, our leading oil company. It has also invested approximately one billion dollars in our economy through the Russian Direct Investment Fund. And I am confident that even greater opportunities lie ahead. We have a lot of interesting projects, quite a number. We enjoy effective cooperation within the gas exporters’ organisation, and I really hope that we will have interesting joint projects in this area.
We are actively involved in humanitarian cooperation. I remember very well that Your Highness made personal efforts to assist us in securing the right to host the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and later assisted with issues related to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On our part, we have also attempted – I believe, successfully – to assist Qatar with organising the FIFA World Cup.
We work together on many other humanitarian projects, from sports to culture.
It is certainly important to discuss issues concerning hot zones, today. We know that Qatar is taking serious action to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unfortunately, the initiatives, including those you proposed yourself, have not been implemented. Civilians continue to die in Palestine, which is a very serious tragedy of today.
On our part, we believe – and Russia and Qatar have congruent positions here – that a long-term settlement can be achieved only and exclusively based on a resolution of the United Nations, primarily in the context of creating two full-fledged states. In this case, of course, I am talking about creating a Palestinian state.
You and I also discussed developments in Syria, which are also very important to us. We would like to do everything possible to ensure that Syria endures as a sovereign, independent and integral state. We would also welcome the opportunity to discuss with you ways of providing assistance to the Syrian people, including humanitarian aid. There are a host of problems there, including political, security and purely economic ones.
Your Highness, we are delighted to see you in Moscow.
Welcome.
Emir of the State of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani (retranslated): Thank you very much, Mr President.
I would like to begin by thanking you for the invitation to visit Moscow. As you said, my last visit to Russia was many years ago, but we have always maintained contact, as did the heads of our respective agencies.
A few days ago, I met with my friend Mr Manturov who co-chaired the intergovernmental commission meeting, and we discussed a range of issues. We greatly value the strong bond of relations with Russia, and we discussed ways to expand them. There are projects and there are proposals that we plan to discuss and implement soon. A number of agreements will also be signed.
We have excellent personal relations. You pointed out that the current bilateral trade figures do not yet match the intensity of our cooperation, and I agree with you, Mr President. The joint commission is discussing ways to advance our relations and increase mutual trade.
We are very proud of the investment cooperation we have achieved in various spheres. This particularly relates to healthcare and pharmaceuticals, among other industries. Several documents will also be signed today. We will discuss these areas with you, Mr President.
We also have excellent opportunities to expand cooperation in culture and sports. We have had excellent cooperation with our Russian friends in preparing for the 2022 World Cup. Russia provided tremendous support, and this contributed to the success of the World Cup in Doha. The cooperation was at a very high level. You supported us throughout the entire preparatory period, and we were in touch all the time. Thank God, we achieved an excellent level of organisation of the World Cup.
Mr President, we also continue to cooperate on urgent issues, such as hotspots in the region, including the grave situation that we see in Gaza, the ongoing aggression.
We reached an agreement months ago, but unfortunately, Israel is not honouring that agreement, not adhering to it. Qatar, however, continues its mediation efforts trying to bring the respective stances of the parties closer together and achieve an agreement that would alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people. Like Russia, our stance is clear and consistent: there can be no peace without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
Mr President, you also mentioned Syria. A few days ago, President of Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa visited Qatar. I had lengthy talks with him, we discussed the historical ties between Syria and Russia. These ties have always been of a strategic nature and they still are. He is determined to continue building this cooperation on the basis of mutual respect and consideration for the interests of the two nations.
Syria is undoubtedly going through a very challenging period, it is necessary to support the aspirations of the new Syrian government to ensure the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Thank you again, Mr President, for your invitation. I always wish the best for our relations.
Thank you.
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