Saudi Arabia and its allies involved in a prolonged diplomatic dispute with Qatar said Monday they would extend by 48 hours a deadline for Qatar to comply with their demands.
Kuwait, which has been trying to negotiate a peaceful end to the Gulf Arab states' blockade of Qatar, asked for the deadline extension Sunday, shortly before time for Qatar's reply to the Saudi-led coalition was due to expire.
A coordinated statement released early Monday by the state news agencies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia confirmed the deadline had been extended until the end of Monday.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and commercial links with Qatar on June 5, accusing the government in Doha of supporting terrorism in an alliance with Iran.
Qatar has denied the accusations and said such charges are baseless. The small Gulf state's foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, has said the demands by the Saudis and their partners - including the withdrawal of Turkish troops in Qatar, closure of the Qatari-state-owned Al Jazeera news group and a downgrading of Qatar's relations with Iran - are impossible to meet without sacrificing Qatar's sovereignty.
Although Al Thani signaled the Saudis' demands were virtually certain to be rejected, Qatar has not yet formally responded to the Arab group.
Egypt said on Sunday the foreign ministers from the four boycotting countries would discuss the situation with Qatar in Cairo on Wednesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump discussed the situation by phone in separate calls Sunday with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Qatari Emir Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
A White House statement said Trump addressed his concerns about the dispute, and also stressed the importance of regional unity, stopping terrorist financing and discrediting extremist ideology.
The United States has supported Kuwait's attempt to mediate the Gulf Arabs' dispute. Washington has strong ties to both sides: the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet is berthed in Bahrain and a land base in Qatar is the largest U.S. military facility in the region. In addition, hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of pending arms deals between the United States and Saudi Arabia potentially could be affected by the outcome of the diplomatic dispute.
陷入与卡塔尔旷日持久外交纠纷的沙特阿拉伯及其盟国星期一将卡塔尔接受复交条件的最后期限延长48小时。
一直谈判游说海湾地区阿拉伯国家和平结束对卡塔尔封锁的科威特，星期天在沙特领导的联盟下达的最后期限到来前要求将最后期限延长。
科威特和沙特阿拉伯的国家通讯社星期一凌晨发表了一份协调一致的声明，证实最后期限已被延长。
沙特阿拉伯、阿联酋、巴林和埃及6月5日切断了与卡塔尔的外交和商业联系，指责卡塔尔政府与伊朗勾结支持恐怖主义。
卡塔尔对此予以否认，表示这些指控毫无根据。这个海湾小国的外交大臣塔尼曾表示，沙特及其盟国提出的要求，包括土耳其军队从卡塔尔撤离，关闭卡塔尔国有的半岛电视台，还有降低与伊朗的外交关系，除非牺牲卡塔尔的主权，否则是不可能实现的。
虽然塔尼暗示沙特阿拉伯的要求几乎肯定会被拒绝，但卡塔尔还没有正式作出答复。
埃及星期天表示，四个抵制卡塔尔的国家将于星期三在开罗讨论与卡塔尔的局势。
美国总统川普星期天分别与沙特国王萨勒曼、卡塔尔埃米尔塔米姆和阿布扎比王储纳哈扬通了电话。
白宫的声明说，川普表达了对这起外交纠纷的担忧，他还表达了地区团结、制止恐怖分子筹集资金和打击极端意识形态的重要性。
美国一直支持科威特调停海湾阿拉伯国家之间纠纷所做的努力。华盛顿与纠纷的双方都有紧密联系，美国海军第五舰队的司令部在巴林，在卡塔尔的军事基地是美军在该地区最大的军事设施。此外，美国与沙特阿拉伯的价值上千亿美元军售协议有可能会因这场外交危机受到影响。