French FM holds talks in Kuwait to resolve Gulf crisis

Kuwait City, Kuwait - French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian held talks with top officials in Kuwait on Sunday in a bid to bolster the emirate’s attempts to mediate in the Gulf crisis.

Le Drian met with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Sabah and Kuwait’s foreign minister, state news agency KUNA said, for talks on a regional rift which has seen Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain sever all ties with Qatar. Le Drian, who was due in the UAE on Sunday night, stopped in Qatar and Saudi Arabia at the start of his two-day Gulf tour on Saturday.

The French foreign minister has supported Kuwait as a mediator in the Gulf crisis, which he said should be resolved ‘by the Gulf countries themselves’. “France does not want to substitute the mediator,” Le Drian said in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. “It wants to be a facilitator by joining efforts of other countries.”

Le Drian’s visit comes after a an earlier effort by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.