"The nation of Qatar unfortunately has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level", Trump told reporters at the White House.
Qatar said it leads the region in attacking what it called the roots of terrorism, giving young people hope through jobs, educating hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and funding community programmes to challenge extremist agendas.
Trump initially took sides in tweets with the Saudi-led group, before apparently being nudged into a more even-handed approach when USA defence officials renewed praise of Qatar where their base is located.
He echoed an allegation the Saudi-led group has used to justify cutting diplomatic ties to the tiny gas-rich country. But Western diplomats accuse the country of allowing or even encouraging the funding of some Sunni extremists.
At a time when US President Donald Trump accused Qatar of being a "high level" sponsor of terrorism, potentially hindering the US Department of State's efforts to ease heightening tensions and a blockade of the Gulf nation by Arab states and others, India has asserted that it has "vital stakes" in peace and stability in the Gulf, while asking countries in the region to resolve the Qatar crisis through constructive dialogue and well-established global principles of mutual respect.
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The Russian intevention follows calls from US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for the crisis not to disrupt action against the Islamic State (IS) group.
"While current operations from Al Udeid Air Base have not been hindered or curtailed, the evolving situation is hindering our ability to plan for longer-term military operations", said Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, according to The New York Times. The charge has been denied by Doha. "But it does not give us joy when relations between our partners deteriorate", Lavrov told Qatar's foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani at talks in Moscow.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain released a joint statement listing 59 entities and individuals, including members of Qatar's royal family, as involved in "terrorist" activities. Turkey and Qatar have both provided support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and backed rebels fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"Qatar is confident that the review and analysis will confirm that Qatar has significant measures in place to prevent and detect efforts to launder funds and/or to use its financial systems to finance terrorist organizations", he said. A statement from Egypt's presidency said President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Trump spoke by phone on Friday and that el-Sissi thanked him for his role in "the formation of a united front to combat terrorism".
With India having strategic energy interests in the region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made important bilateral visits over the last three years to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iran. With supply chains disrupted and anxiety mounting about economic turbulence, banks and firms in Gulf Arab states were trying to keep business links to Qatar open and avoid a costly firesale of assets.
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