BERLIN (Sputnik) — Foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt met in Cairo after the deadline for Qatar to accept their demands expired. They agreed to keep diplomatic and economic sanctions in place and take additional measures at the right time.
"Today’s meeting of the coalition’s four in Cairo was no breakthrough but at least it did not lead to new sanctions," Gabriel said in a statement. "In the current situation, it is a result that at least will not complicate the further process."
The four Arab states broke off diplomatic ties a month ago and blockaded air, sea and land traffic to Qatar allegedly to force it to end support for Sunni extremists in the Middle East, which Doha denied. It has rejected the coalitions’ demands to shut the Aljazeera news channel and scale down ties with Iran as unattainable.