Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa told reporters today that the four blockading states are ready to hold talks with Qatar, but only under some incredibly stringent conditions which suggest no such talks will happen.
Effectively, the talks are conditioned on them being talks about the specifics of implementing the 13 demands Qatar rejected weeks ago, and would only be held if Qatar agrees in general to comply with the myriad demands they’ve already ruled out complying with.
Saudi FM Abu Jubair complained that he doesn’t believe Qatar is “serious” about complying with the demands, and he’s not wrong, as Qatar officials have repeatedly indicated that they view the demands as a violation of their sovereignty, and have no intention of accepting them.
Qatari officials reiterated that they view the sanctions and blockade as illegal under international law, saying they don’t see any clear vision from the blockading states on proceeding, but just more demands.
