Earlier in the day, Saudi Arabia, alongside Bahrain, Egypt, Libya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar amid the row over the latter’s alleged support of Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist movement, which is outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
"The decision to cut diplomatic relations with Qatar, is explained by the five Arab nations by the fact that Doha supports such terrorist organizations as the Muslim Brotherhood. Such resolute unity over the issues of fight against terrorism should have been welcomed, if it was consistent, non-selective and sincere… I think it will not cause serious tensions. The relations of the Arab countries with Qatar is not a factor defining 'the weather' in the region. This is not a track, where everything is being decided," Kosachev said.
"However, it is quite possible that the initiators of the diplomatic row with Qatar just want to demonstrate to Washington their commitment to implement its plans to form an anti-terrorist coalition," Kosachev added.
The row between the countries intensified one week after the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, when the Qatari news agency posted a speech supporting the building of relations with Iran on behalf of the country's emir. Afterward, the official representative of the Qatari Foreign Ministry said that the agency's site was hacked, and that the emir's speech was published by hackers and had nothing to do with the Qatari leader.
