Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone with the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. This was reported on the Kremlin website on Saturday, 1 July.
It is noted that the conversation took place at the initiative of the Qatari side. “Discussed the crisis in relations between Qatar and several other States. Vladimir Putin stressed the importance of political and diplomatic efforts to overcome the existing differences and normalizing the current difficult situation,” according to the statement.
It is also stated that the leaders continued exchanging views on topical issues of bilateral cooperation, with emphasis on the implementation of a number of promising projects including in the investment and energy sectors.
In addition, the Russian leader spoke with the king of Bahrain Hamad bin ISA al Khalifa. During the meeting, they discussed implementation of the agreements reached in the negotiations at the highest level in September 2016 in Moscow.
“Noted the recent positive dynamics of development of trade-economic ties (…). When exchanging opinions on the situation around Qatar, noted that this has a negative impact on the already difficult situation in the middle East”, — the press-service of the Kremlin.
In June, a number of States, particularly Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Qatar, accusing Doha of destabilizing the political situation in the Arab States and supporting terrorism.
Then Kuwait as a mediator handed Qatar a list of conditions that must be observed to exit from the crisis. For example, from Doha, require lowering the level of diplomatic relations with Iran, to close the channel “al Jazeera” and to stop military cooperation with Turkey. Qatar called those demands unrealistic.