DUBAI — Russia called Saturday for dialogue to resolve a dispute between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours, as Riyadh and its allies welcomed US President Donald Trump’s demand that Doha stop funding extremist groups.

Rights group Amnesty International warned of “heartbreak and fear” suffered by ordinary people caught in the diplomatic crossfire.

Moscow’s appeal came after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson encouraged Saudi Arabia and its allies to ease their land and sea “blockade” of gas-rich Qatar.

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and the Maldives severed ties with Qatar, accusing it of backing terrorism, and imposed punitive measures.

Niger on Saturday recalled its ambassador to Doha “for consultations”, the foreign minister in Niamey tweeted.

Qatar called the accusations baseless and dispatched Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on a diplomatic offensive to enlist support from abroad.

On Saturday, he was in Moscow to see Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, after visiting Germany and Brussels.

“We cannot be happy in a situation when the relations between our partners are worsening,” Lavrov said.

“We are in favour of resolving any disagreements through… dialogue.”

Russia is “ready to try to do everything in its power” to help resolve the crisis, he said.

Sheikh Mohammed said his aim was to inform Russia about “the illegal measures” taken against Qatar.

‘Swift action needed’ 

Despite Kuwaiti efforts to mediate, the crisis appeared to escalate on Friday as Saudi Arabia released a joint statement listing 59 Qatari entities and individuals, including members of the royal family, as involved in “terrorist” activities.

And Trump told a White House news conference Qatar “has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level” and said “they have to end that funding”.

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