Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the State of Qatar, Andrii Kuzmenko, Took Part in the Meeting of the Foreign Policy Club

May 21, 2024

On May 21, the Foreign Policy Club discussed "The State of Qatar - an Atypical Country of the Typical Global South" with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the State of Qatar, Andrii Kuzmenko.

Ambassador Andrii Kuzmenko has been performing his diplomatic activities for more than thirty years, during which he professionally dealt with issues of arms control, in particular nuclear, matters of the European Court of Human Rights and bilateral relations with many countries in Europe and the Middle East, worked in the UN structures, was the deputy of the Permanent Representative of Ukraine at the Council of Europe and headed the Embassy of Ukraine in Great Britain. Mr Ambassador has military experience: in addition to higher military education, he joined the UN inspection activities on the territory of Iraq and participated in the anti-terrorist operation on the territory of Donbas for seven months.

Nataliia Konopka, Cand, Sc. (History), Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the Educational and Scientific Institute of International Relations and National Security, moderated the meeting.

During the meeting after the introductory lecture, the attendees discussed the diversification of sales markets and the economy of Qatar, the main challenges and difficulties in the work of the embassy, the state of affairs in the region and further prospects for their development, the relations of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with Qatar, and the potential security direction of the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf, the prospects of Qatar's relations with Ukraine and a view of the religious factor in Qatar's relations with the countries of the region, the role of soft power and cultural diplomacy in Qatar's foreign policy, the likelihood of establishing diplomatic relations and the normalisation of relations between Qatar and Israel, the peculiarities of Qatari-Kuwaiti relations and many other questions.

"I am glad that I took the opportunity to learn more about Qatar's culture, economy and political system. After the lecture, all attendees had the opportunity to ask about the state of international relations in the Middle East and Ukrainian-Qatari relations and briefly discuss them with Mr Ambassador. My question was related to the research topic of my scientific work. It is pleasant that at the end of the meeting, Andrii Mykhailovych wished us not to give up on our favourite pursuits and promised to visit our university in the future."

Read more:

• Ambassador Andrii Kuzmenko Conducted a Lecture at the Open University Event at Ostroh Academy