MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The visit of the Qatari foreign minister is taking place amid the ongoing diplomatic spat between Qatar and a number of Arab states.
"I am very glad that we are meeting again in Moscow after a short break. We had a constructive dialogue on regional issues and we hope that this dialogue of constructive cooperation between the two friendly countries will continue," Al Thani said.
Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani thanked Russia for providing assistance to Qatar in overcoming the consequences of the diplomatic row with a number of Arab states.
"I would like to thank the Russian institutions that offered their assistance in overcoming illegal measures taken against us. I really appreciate this cooperation between our two countries," Al Thani said.
On June 5, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Yemen, Libya, the Maldives and Mauritius severed diplomatic relations with Qatar. The states accused Qatar of supporting terrorist groups, as well as of interfering in other countries' domestic affairs. Riyadh has also imposed restrictions against Doha, including closing the border between the two states.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry rejected the accusations of interference in other countries' domestic affairs and said that Doha will not take responsive measures.
All the disagreements in the Persian Gulf region should be settled through the means of dialogue, Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said during the meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister.
"The main purpose of the visit is to familiarize Russia with the events, measures that had been introduced against Qatar. Namely, those illegal measures that had been undertaken against our country. I would like to reconfirm Qatar's position that all the disagreements should be solved through dialogue, and the format of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf is the most [favorable] for such dialogue," Al Thani said.
Doha claimed that the formal reason for the conflict was a story on the website of Qatar's news agency on May 23. The story attributed false remarks to the Qatari emir, in which he made friendly comments about Iran and expressed support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
The incident took place a week after the Arab Islamic American Summit in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Later, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said that the website was hacked and the remarks were falsely attributed to the nation's leader.
However, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain continue to insist that Qatar must expel members of Hamas and other groups regarded by its neighbors as terrorists.
Since the crisis erupted, Russia has insisted that it can only be resolved through diplomacy. Foreign Minister Lavrov said that Moscow would not interfere in those relations but added that Russia was interested in having normal relations with all nations in the Middle East.
