Lavrov Visits Saudi Arabia for Syria, Gulf Talks

The Saudi king and Russia's foreign minister have met in Saudi Arabia ahead of a possible visit by the monarch to Russia next month.

Saudi Arabia's state news agency said King Salman and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday discussed the war in Syria and an Arab diplomatic crisis with Qatar.

Saudi Arabia supports Sunni rebels fighting the Syrian government, which is backed by Russia and Shiite-ruled Iran.

Lavrov is scheduled to visit Jordan next, after last month meeting leaders in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Over the weekend, Saudi Arabia's crown prince and Qatar's ruling emir spoke for the first time since a diplomatic crisis erupted in June, but the call only led to further public squabbling.

During a joint press conference with Lavrov on Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said "the crisis with Qatar will continue until it stops supporting terrorism and hosting fugitives and until it halts its incitement rhetoric."

Lavrov for his part said his country is looking for "new horizons of cooperation" with Saudi Arabia.