Russia not planning to rival in settling Qatar crisis - Lavrov

KUWAIT CITY, August 28. /TASS/. Moscow is not planning to rival with anyone in settling the crisis between Qatar and a number of regional states, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday. "We support the Kuwaiti initiative, we do not want to rival with anyone," Lavrov said. "We have good relations with all the countries which found themselves in such a difficult situation." "We strongly consider that Kuwait’s initiative deserves support of all those who can have a positive impact on this situation. We are ready to provide this support in those forms that will be acceptable for all participants in this situation," Lavrov stressed. On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and interfering into their domestic affairs and said they were severing diplomatic relations with that country. Economic sanctions and a transport blockade of the emirate were imposed. On June 22, the four Arab states advanced 13 demands to Qatar for restoring relations and gave it a 10-day deadline to comply with them. Qatar’s government said that the demands were unacceptable as they had nothing to do with the fight against terrorism but aimed at limiting the country’s sovereignty. Since the very outset of the crisis, Kuwait was seeking to play the role of a mediator. Kuwait suggested holding a high-level meeting of countries involved in the conflict. Read more