Qatar is not only hoping to continue its mediation efforts to return hostages from Hamas to Israel, but also from Russia to Ukraine, according to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.
"Qatar has been mediating in different conflicts that not only exclusive to the region, but even beyond that," he told CBS News' "Face the Nation" "And this is something that's been in the foundation of the country's foreign policy.
"It's a core element — an element that we are focusing on."
More than 2,400 children from Ukraine aged between 6 and 17 years old have been taken to 13 facilities across Belarus since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to research published by Yale University.
Qatar is hailing its outsized rule in diplomatic negotiations worldwide, despite being a small nation.
"We see that this is a contribution of such a small country to international peace and security," Al Thani told host Margaret Brennan. "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.
"These efforts have been ongoing and still continuing. And we are hoping also for another group to come back to their families before the holidays, hopefully."
Ukraine's prosecutor general said in May that he was investigating the alleged role of Belarus in the forced transfer of more than 19,000 identified children from Russian-occupied territories since the conflict broke out, including to Russia.
The total number is estimated by some experts and organizations to be far higher.
The findings shared with Reuters by the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health, which receives U.S. State Department funding, are the most extensive to date about the alleged role of Belarus in the Russian relocation program for Ukrainian children.
Russia has said previously that it is offering humanitarian aid to those wishing to flee Ukraine voluntarily and rejects accusations of war crimes.
More than 2,000 children Yale identified were transported to the Dubrava children's center in Belarus' Minsk region between September 2022 and May 2023, it said, while 392 children were taken to 12 other facilities.
"Russia's systematic effort to identify, collect, transport, and re-educate Ukraine's children has been facilitated by Belarus," the report said.
"Russia's federal government and Belarus' regime have been working together to coordinate and fund the movement of children from Russia-occupied Ukraine through Russia to Belarus."
Transports to Belarus through Russia were "ultimately coordinated" between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, it added.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March. It accused him and Children's Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.
Taking children under the age of 18 across a border without the consent of a parent or guardian is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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