Tillerson to Travel to Kuwait Monday to Discuss Qatar Crisis

Washington – Expressing concern over the apparent negotiation deadlock in the Qatar crisis, US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, will be traveling to blockade mediator, Kuwait, on Monday.

On Thursday, US State Department spokeswoman, Heather Nauert, expressed the Trump administration’s concern that the Qatar crisis could “possibly even intensify” over the coming days.

“We remain very concerned,” she said, “about that ongoing situation between Qatar and GCC countries.” Nauert failed, however, to provide any details regarding precisely what those concerns are.

In light of this anxiety, US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, announced his intention to travel to Kuwait, the crisis’ mediator, on Monday. Following stops in Turkey and Ukraine, Tillerson will go on to Kuwait City to discuss the situation with an eye to possible strategies for nudging a solution forward.

In a separate statement released by the White House, it was announced that US President, Donald Trump, and German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, had met briefly ahead of the G20 Summit in Hamburg on Thursday.

During the meeting, the two leaders “conferred on a range of shared foreign and security policy priorities, including… de-escalating the conflict between Qatar and some of its Gulf and Arab neighbours.”

Negotiations to end the dispute hit an obvious snag on Wednesday when Qatar presented Kuwait with its official rejection of the demands, claiming they were deliberately formulated to be impossible to comply with.

On Thursday, the four countries comprising the bloc issued a joint statement voicing their frustration with Qatar’s continued defiance. They promised to implement further sanctions on their tiny neighbour, saying that “all political, economic and legal measures will be taken in the manner and at the time deemed appropriate to preserve the four countries’ rights, security and stability.”