Four Arab States Ignore Kuwait's Proposals on Qatar Row Settlement - Doha

As Russia has been calling for a resolution to some Arab states' diplomatic row with Qatar via Kuwait's mediation, the Qatari foreign minister told his Russian counterpart Lavrov that despite some Gulf states' ignoring proposals for a summit to resolve the crisis, Doha still hopes that a dialogue will be restored.

DOHA (Sputnik) – The four Arab countries involved in the Qatar diplomatic row have ignored Kuwait’s proposal to convene a summit with Doha’s participation, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Thani said.

"The only country that responded to these letters was Qatar. It only took a few days to reply, however none of the countries which introduced the blockade responded to the letter. Qatar welcomes all efforts of the friendly countries which support Kuwait’s mediation efforts, undertaking any efforts for this," the Qatari minister told a press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The Qatari foreign minister praised Russia's position on the Persian Gulf diplomatic crisis.

"We also discussed Russia’s position in relation to the Gulf crisis, it is necessary to put an end to this crisis as soon as possible, preserve the unity of the cooperation council, support the efforts of Kuwait’s emir. Qatar welcomes it and thanks the Russian president for his stance."

In his turn, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that Moscow welcomes Kuwait's and US' proposals on the Qatar crisis settlement.

"We will welcome if his proposals achieve the result and efforts succeed, but we ourselves have not submitted any ideas that differ from what the Kuwait and the United States offer, and we do not consider it necessary, because there are enough proposals on the basis of which it is possible to start dialogue," Lavrov said.

According to the minister, Moscow believes that "it would be more appropriate to solve this issue within the framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)."

Earlier this week, Lavrov has again reaffirmed Russia's position on the Qatar row, saying that Moscow does not want to compete with other states in order to take the lead helping to negotiate the settlement of the diplomatic row surrounding Doha, while fully supportinh Kuwait's efforts to solve the dispute. Earlier, Moscow said it is ready to act as mediator if neccessary.

In early June, Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced that they were breaking off diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the situation in the Middle East. Kuwait, acting as a mediator in the crisis, handed over the 13 demands of the four Arab states, which Doha has refused to comply with.