Kuwaiti PM, Russian FM discuss Gulf crisis, Syria

Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Hamad Al Sabah on Monday discussed the latest regional and international developments with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Kuwaiti capital.

The meeting was also attended by Kuwaiti First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Hamad Al Sabah.

According to Kuwait’s official KUNA news agency, both sides hailed the “long history of warm relations at all levels” between the two countries.

On Sunday, Lavrov began a three-nation tour of the Arab Gulf region that will also take him to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) before wrapping up on Aug. 30.

In an earlier statement, Russian Ambassador to Kuwait Alexey V. Solomatin said Lavrov’s tour “comes within the context of Russia's support for Kuwaiti mediation efforts aimed at resolving the ongoing Gulf crisis”.

While in the Gulf, Solomatin added, the Russian Foreign Minister “will also address the current situation in Syria”.

In recent months, relations between the Arab Gulf states -- traditional allies -- have been rocked by an unprecedented diplomatic crisis.

In early June, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain collectively cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism in the region.

The four states also imposed a blockade on Qatar, demanding that Doha meet a long list of demands -- including one for the closure of pan-Arab news broadcaster Al Jazeera -- or face additional sanctions.

Doha, for its part, rejects the demands, describing the attempts to isolate it as a violation of both international law and its national sovereignty.

A key U.S. ally in the region and home to one of the largest U.S. military bases in the Middle East, Qatar fiercely denies allegations that it supports terrorism.

Kuwait, meanwhile, has attempted to mediate the crisis, dispatching high-level emissaries to relay messages between Qatar and the states arrayed against it.