France’s Macron says hoping for progress on Lebanon ‘within next hours’

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday he hoped there would be progress on the Lebanon crisis in the next hours.

“We will do all we can to re-engage the Gulf regions for the benefit of Lebanon… I hope the coming hours will allow us to make progress.” Macron said during a visit to the United Arab Emirates.

Lebanon is facing a diplomatic crisis with Gulf states, spurred by a minister’s critical comments about the Saudi Arabia-led intervention in Yemen that prompted Riyadh, Bahrain and Kuwait to expel Lebanon’s top diplomats and recall their own envoys. The UAE withdrew its envoys.