Dr. Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State, said during a meeting with Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, that the decision to severe relations with Qatar is aimed at stopping its funding of terrorism, UAE News Agency (WAM) reported.

“For 22 years, Qatar has adopted policies that undermined regional and global security, through the direct or indirect finance of terrorism or by supporting media outlets that enable terrorist groups to promote their twisted, violent and extremist ideologies,” Dr. Al Jaber said.
Dr. Al Jaber further said that the measures taken by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt came after exhausting all other attempts to change the course of Qatar’s double standard policy of simultaneously combating and supporting terrorism.
“The decision to sever ties with Qatar was a clear message to its regime, that it is time for Doha to change the course and approach it has followed for many years, to undermine regional security and stability by providing support for extremism and terrorism,” Dr. Al Jaber stated.
“Qatar has failed to honour the pledge it made in 2013, to refrain from funding terrorism, interfering in the internal affairs of other countries in the region and destabilising these countries. This led to the decision of the ban, to press Doha to back down from such practices, which negatively affect the people of Qatar in the first place,” he said.
He also noted that Qatar is attempting to distort facts by trying to project these measures as a blockade, targeting the Qatari people.
“This is untrue, given that Qatar can still use several air and sea routes. Qatar is still engaged in double standards through its misleading media, which promotes terrorism and extremist ideologies,” he added.
Al Jaber reviewed, with Lavrov, the list of designated terrorist organisations and individuals supported by Qatar.
Lavrov said that Russia is committed to solving these existing disagreements through dialogue and due consideration for well-known concerns and legitimate national interests, including the framework of consolidating efforts to fight terrorism.
The meeting also discussed ways of developing UAE-Russian co-operation in all areas. The two sides expressed their interest in enhancing bilateral relations and co-operation, especially in commercial, economic, investment and energy fields.
During his visit to Moscow, Al Jaber also met with Mikhail Bogdanov, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East, WAM also said.

Source: Fana News