"We could expect Qatar to yield to certain concessions in the Syrian conflict and give up on its active support of the most persistent and unwilling to reach a compromise radicals," Vitaly Naumkin, Director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies, the Chair at the Faculty of World Politics at the Moscow State University and the Russian adviser to UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura, told Sputnik.
The expert suggested that Doha could stop spoiling the peace process and impeding Russian attempts of peaceful settlement of the Syrian conflict and opt for cooperation with Moscow. It is also interested in setting up sound ties with Iran and Turkey.
However he noted that sooner or later the Persian Gulf monarchies will start searching for ways to end up the current diplomatic crisis. With regards to Russia, Naumkin reminded that Moscow has taken up an equi-distant position in this conflict.
"If we look at the key players in this conflict, we will see that we have pretty constructive relations with a number of participants. We are not interested in any polarization in the region, in the split into warring and antagonistic blocs, and we should not side with anyone, as the US has been doing," he said.
On June 5, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, and Egypt cut off diplomatic relations with the tiny Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism and destabilizing the Middle East. The Maldives, Mauritius, Mauritania, Comoros, Somaliland, the Aden-based government of civil war-raged Yemen, and the Tobruk-based Libyan government soon joined them, with Jordan, Djibouti, Senegal and Chad lowering diplomatic contacts with or recalling their ambassadors from Doha.
Moscow has been watching the diplomatic crisis very closely, and has stressed the need to resolve the conflict peacefully, offered emergency food supplies to Qatar, and called for direct negotiations between Doha and the other Arab states to resolve the crisis.
The ultimatum demands that Qatar, among other things, cut its ties with Iran, close a Turkish military base on its soil and shut down the Al Jazeera media network and its affiliates. The countries are also demanding that Doha publicaly denounce relations with Islamist groups, end its suspected financing of terrorism and hand over persons that have been designated as terrorists by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt. Moreover, the countries are demanding that Qatar provide financial compensation, although the sum was not reported.
