Several officials in the Gulf region have stated that Qatar, which was collectively "severed" by neighboring Arab countries in 2017, is working to restore diplomatic relations with one of the severed countries, the United Arab Emirates, and the two countries are expected to officially resume diplomatic relations within a few weeks. According to Reuters on the 18th, with multiple unnamed officials as sources, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are "in the process of restoring diplomatic relations and reopening embassies". A United Arab Emirates official said, "Currently, the activation process of diplomatic relations between the two countries, including reopening embassies, is underway." Two other sources said that Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are expected to fully resume diplomatic relations within weeks, and are expected to reopen their embassies and send new ambassadors to each other by mid June. According to the sources mentioned above, officials from both sides agreed to officially resume diplomatic relations at the end of last month, and the United Arab Emirates has informed Qatar of the ambassador selection. Later that day, the Qatar International Media Office confirmed in a statement that the work of reopening their respective embassies as soon as possible is underway. In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt announced the severing of diplomatic relations with Qatar and imposed sanctions and blockades on it, citing Qatar's "support for terrorism" and "disruption of regional security". Subsequently, multiple countries announced the severing of diplomatic relations with Qatar. Qatar denies the allegations. In January 2021, the 41st Gulf Cooperation Council Summit was held in the western city of Euler, Saudi Arabia. Participating leaders signed the Euler Declaration at the summit, and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt announced the resumption of diplomatic relations with Qatar. Saudi Arabia and Egypt exchanged ambassadors with Qatar in the same year. The Foreign Ministries of Bahrain and Qatar announced on the evening of the 12th of this month that the two countries have agreed to officially resume diplomatic relations. The United Arab Emirates resumed economic, trade and personnel exchanges with Qatar in 2021, and high-level visits have become increasingly frequent in the past two years. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are expected to officially resume diplomatic relations, which is one of the recent positive diplomatic developments in the Middle East region. With the support of China, representatives of Saudi Arabia and Iran reached a Beijing agreement last month and signed a joint statement this month, announcing the resumption of diplomatic relations. In addition, many Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt, met last week to discuss the issue of "Syria's return to the League of Arab States". Last week, the two sides in the Yemeni conflict launched a large-scale prisoner exchange and began negotiations to renew the ceasefire agreement. (New News Agency)