Ukraine President makes surprise appearance at Doha Forum, asks for boost in energy exports during war

On Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s President, made a surprise appearance in Qatar’s Doha Forum, a yearly summit in the nation where the 2022 FIFA World Cup will take place this year.

He appealed to energy-rich countries to boost their output of energy sources, including oil and natural gas. According to him, this will make Russia understand that it cannot use energy to blackmail and use it as a weapon against the world.

Zelenskyy spoke to countries about increasing their exports of energy sources, seeing that Qatar is the leading exporter of natural gas. He added that Qatar and other energy-rich nations are reliable and trustworthy providers of energy resources and can help calm down the circumstances in Europe.


Zelenskyy also asked the United Nations and world powers to help Ukraine. He has been making other similar talks worldwide since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. He compared Russia’s demolition of the port city of Mariupol and the destruction of the city of Aleppo during the Russian military intervention during the Syrian civil war. He said that Russia is destroying their ports, and the war could affect Ukraine’s agricultural exports, a blow to countries worldwide.

The Russia-Ukraine war is already threatening wheat supply, and its prices are soaring. Middle East nations like Egypt are worried about the situation as they depend on Ukraine for its wheat exports.

A day before he appeared at Doha Forum, Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, an ally of the Russian President.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan, foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, said it would follow the production schedule with Russia and other producers as already approved by OPEC. Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat also said it wouldn’t be accountable for the increase in prices as it deals with attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, Qatar Energy CEO, said that his country could not provide immediate help by increasing the gas supply in Europe.

Zelenskyy also criticized Russia for threatening the world with its nuclear weapons. He also said that Muslims in Ukraine would be fighting during their upcoming holy month of Ramadan.