Moscow is hoping that the diplomatic row involving Qatar and several of its neighbors will find a political solution, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Monday.
The situation in the region is important for the oil market, Novak pointed out.
“We believe that this conflict should be resolved via political means, and we do hope that this conflict in the Middle East will be reconciled, because, really, for the sake of the market and further cooperation expansion on the part of the Persian Gulf a stable and normalized situation is required,” Novak told the CNBC broadcaster on Sunday.
Last Monday, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt broke off diplomatic relations with Qatar over its alleged support of terrorism, with a number of other countries severing or reducing ties with Doha in the following week.
On Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow favored direct dialogue as the best method of resolving the issue, but stressed that Moscow did not interfere in other states’ internal affairs.
Russia, Qatar and several states that have cut off ties with the latter are part of the oil producers’ agreement on oil output cuts, initially reached in late 2016 and prolonged for nine more months in May. However, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Falih said on Saturday that the situation around Qatar was not likely to affect the implementation of the deal.