LONDON –

The situation in Russia sparked concern across the Middle East, with some countries calling for de-escalation after Saturday’s mutiny by the Wagner group of heavily armed mercenaries.

The mutiny was aborted later on Saturday in a deal that spared mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin Prigozhin and his mercenaries from facing criminal charges and exiled Prigozhin to Belarus in return for him pulling his fighters back to base.

Prigozhin had said his “march” on Moscow was intended to remove corrupt and incompetent commanders he blames for botching the war in Ukraine.

On Saturday, the United Arab Emirates said it was following “with great concern” the situation in Russian, and called for de-escalation and self-restraint.

The UAE “stressed the need to respect the rules and principles of international law,” the Gulf country’s foreign ministry said in a statement reported by its state news agency.

Qatar also expressed its concerns over the situation in Russia and called for “maximum restraint” from all parties, a foreign ministry statement said.

“The foreign ministry warns that escalation in Russia and Ukraine will have negative consequences for international peace and security and will impact food and energy supplies,” the statement added.

In a call with his Russian counterpart, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said he was confident Russia would get through current events in the country, Iran’s state media reported.

Amirabdollahian “voiced support for the rule of law in all countries, including Russia, a neighbour and a friend… and said he was confident that Russia would get through this stage,” state media said in its report about the phone call with Sergei Lavrov.