First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar. This is the first visit of a Qatari official since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion and the first visit of the Prime Minister of Qatar to Ukraine.
During the meeting, the President's wife thanked Qatar for the historic visit, solidarity and humanitarian aid provided to Ukraine (the state transferred $5 million to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health).
"I am linked to your country by projects in the field of cultural diplomacy. Thanks to this cooperation, we have a common result. An audio guide was launched at the National Museum of Qatar and a Ukrainian bookshelf was opened at the National Library of Qatar. At a time when Ukraine is fighting for itself, its existence and the lives of every person, language and culture unite like nothing else," Olena Zelenska said.
She expressed her hope for continued cooperation between the countries and invited Qatar to participate in the projects of the Olena Zelenska Foundation, which was established in September 2022 to attract foreign donors to humanitarian aid, support for education and healthcare in Ukraine.
"According to an audit conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science, one in four schools is not suitable for education during the war because of the problem with shelters. On the eve of the new school year, the foundation is accumulating all possible resources to repair as many shelters in schools as possible," the First Lady said.
The Foundation has allocated USD 500 thousand for the project. Together with partners from the Kyiv School of Economics, we have started cooperation with the first schools to have their shelters repaired so that children can start studying full-time. At the same time, thousands of schools are in need of this.
"Another important project of the foundation is the reconstruction of the Izyum hospital. After the liberation of Kharkiv region, the whole world learned about doctor Yuriy Kuznetsov, who, during the occupation, conducted surgeries, delivered babies and saved local residents alone in the almost destroyed Central City Hospital of Izyum for five months. The region has been occupied for almost six months, and the enemy has carried out 476 air strikes on it.
Currently, the central medical institution of Kharkiv region is operating at 10% of its capacity. The primary task is to restore the operating rooms," the First Lady said.
The Foundation has decided to allocate USD 600 thousand to repair and equip four operating rooms, but more funds need to be accumulated to restore the Izyum hospital's functioning.
"I hope that Qatar and Ukraine will have many joint projects - and now to save lives as well," Olena Zelenska summarized.