Manama: The Riyadh Agreement signed by six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in 2014 is a good basis for resolving the dispute that erupted within the alliance, Russia’s Foreign Affairs Committee in the State Duma Leonid Slutsky has said.
The senior Russian official was holding talks with the ambassadors of Bahrain and Egypt, the Charge d’affaires of Saudi Arabia and the First Secretary at the Embassy of the UAE in Moscow.
The four countries severed diplomatic relations with Qatar on June 5, 2017, to preserve their national security against terrorism and extremism and their meeting was part of direct contacts with major capitals to explain the reasons for their decision and the measures they took vis-à-vis Qatar.
The four diplomats briefed Slutsky on the damage and losses suffered by their countries as a result of the support provided by Qatar to terrorist groups over the years, Bahrain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The diplomats also highlighted political efforts made to dissuade Doha from its aggressive policies.
They said it was only after Doha failed to respond to their grievances that they took the decision to sever diplomatic relations with Qatar.
The current situation requires concerted efforts by all states to condemn and combat terrorism on an international level, they added.
Slutsky reportedly said his country enjoyed special relations with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt and welcomed consultation with its leaders on various issues of shared interest.
He called on Qatar to sit down at the dialogue table with its GCC neighbours in order to assuage their fears and resolve the dispute peacefully, the statement added.
Slutsky said that Russia was among the first countries to combat terrorist groups, adding it blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood 14 years ago.
