GENEVA (Sputnik) – Russia does not notice any impact of the diplomatic crisis around Qatar on the Syrian reconciliation process but believes that the Arab world needs unity to settle conflicts in the Middle East region, Russian ambassador to the UN Office in Geneva Alexey Borodavkin said Saturday.
"Despite the fact that we are not seeing any impact of this [Qatar] crisis on the intra-Syrian talks, greater unity in the Arab world is needed to reach agreements on conflict situations that are taking place in the Middle East," Borodavkin told reporters.
On June 5, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates broke off diplomatic relations and communication with Qatar, accusing it of supporting terrorism and interfering in their internal affairs. The Maldives, Mauritius, and Mauritania followed suite, while Jordan and Djibouti reduced the level of their diplomatic missions in Qatar.
In late June, Kuwait acting as a mediator in the crisis, handed over to Doha the ultimatum of the four Arab states with 13 demands, including the requests to severe Qatar’s relations with Iran, close Turkey’s military base in Qatar and shut down the Al Jazeera TV channel, as well as to end support for the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist organization banned in Russia.
On July 5, the four Arab states confirmed Doha's refusal to comply with their demands and expressed regret over such a position.
