Gulf, Russia to set new date for talks over Syria
AFP, Sunday 4 Mar 2012
Gulf ministers believe that the meeting date with Russia on 7 March was 'inappropriate', says Kuwait official. No alternative date was set


Gulf states and Russia will set a new date for a meeting between foreign ministers over the crisis in Syria, Kuwait's foreign ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah said on Sunday.

"A new date will be agreed through talks between the two sides and we hope it will be shortly," Jarallah told reporters after meeting with parliament's foreign relations committee.

Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah told parliament on Thursday that the meeting was going to take place in Riyadh on March 7. But Jarallah said that the meeting was "postponed."

"The Russian side was informed that the Gulf foreign ministers believe that the date was inappropriate because they were tied up with other work," he said.

Russia on Thursday confirmed it had agreed to discuss the Syrian crisis with Gulf foreign ministers, but did not say that a firm date had been set.

"We have received the agreement in principle from member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to organise such a meeting," foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told ITAR-TASS.

"We hope that we will be able to agree on a mutually-acceptable date in the near future."

Moscow along with Beijing has twice wielded its Security Council veto to block UN action on the crisis in Syria, first in October last year and again in February.

Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, have strongly criticised the Russian and Chinese stances on Syria.

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