Qatar emir receives call from Ukraine president after Russia ground invasion

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani was among several world leaders who received phone calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since Russia launched its ground invasion of the Eastern European country on Thursday, according to Qatari state media.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a major offensive on Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday. Russian ground forces crossed into Ukraine from several directions hours later, according to the Ukrainian border agency.

Zelenskyy has spoken to several world leaders since the invasion, urging their support.

Qatar's emir "called on all parties to exercise restraint and resolve the dispute through constructive dialogue and diplomatic methods, as well as the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means, and not to take any actions that would lead to further escalation", Qatar News Agency said.

The emir received a letter Tuesday from Russia concerning ways to develop their ties, QNA had earlier reported.

Tensions between Moscow and other world leaders over Russian military build-up at its border with Ukraine have been building for weeks.

While Western powers have condemned Russia as the aggressor, Arab countries have generally urged restraint from all parties instead. Several Arab states earlier this month urged their citizens to leave Ukraine as fears of a full-scale invasion loomed.

Saudi Arabia has been wary of alienating Russia, a major ally in the OPEC cartel of oil-producing states.

Worried that Russia will cut its energy exports, the US has tried to encourage Saudi Arabia to pump more oil - a request Riyadh has so far pushed back on.

The Syria regime foreign ministry, an ally of Russia, said earlier this week that it supported Putin's recognition of eastern Ukraine's breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Sudan also said it supported Russia's recognition of the areas, parts of which are held by Moscow-backed separatists.

A Sudanese delegation that included the deputy leader of the country's military-led ruling body visited Moscow on Wednesday, in search of "greater cooperation" with Russia.

The country’s finance minister, as well as senior energy and trade officials, were also part of the delegation.

A delegation of judicial officials from the UAE was also in Moscow on Wednesday.

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan spoke to Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that same day, the Emirati foreign ministry said in a statement.

Though there was no explicit mention of Ukraine, the two countries did discuss "regional and international developments", among other topics, according to the statement.

Nayhan "stressed the strength of the friendly relations between the UAE and the Russian Federation".