Kuwaiti FM meets Qatar leader as Saudi Arabia faces pressure to end blockade

Kuwaiti FM meets Qatar leader as Saudi Arabia faces pressure to end blockade
Kuwait, which enjoys friendly relations with Qatar, has been seen likely leader of any future negotiations with other GCC states, notably Saudi Arabia.
2 min read
11 May, 2020
Kuwait’s FM raised "key issues of mutual concern" with its "brotherly nation" [Credit: QNA]
Kuwait's Foreign Minister Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah met with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim in Doha on Sunday evening, as analysts speculate that Saudi Arabia could yield to mounting domestic and global pressure to end a blockade on Doha.

Kuwait, which enjoys friendly relations with Qatar, is viewed as a likely leader of any future negotiations on ending the Saudi-UAE initiated blockade on Doha, due to its reputation as a neutral party.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt launched a land, air and sea blockade on Qatar in 2017.  

Talks in January were stalled, but in late March Gulf ministers agreed to cooperate to combat the coronavirus and its implications on the region's economy in an emergency GCC meeting, the first of its kind since the blockade began three-years-ago.

On Sunday, Kuwait's foreign minister delivered a message from his country's leader Emir Sabah Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah which conveyed the "brotherly" ties that bound the two nations and raised "key issues of mutual concern", according to Kuwaiti media reports.

Last month, a spokeswoman for Qatar's foreign ministry indicated that Doha was open to talks with Saudi Arabia amid the coronavirus epidemic.  

In an interview with The New Arab’s Arabic-language service Lolwah Al-Khater said "differences naturally remained" but that it was necessary to cooperate in the "technical and creative spheres" in the face of the global pandemic.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt accused Doha of backing "terrorst groups" in the region and seeking closer ties with Saudi arch-rival Tehran – allegations Qatar vehemently denies.

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