Grlić Radman discusses Middle East crisis with Kuwaiti and Bahraini counterparts

Croatia's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman said he spoke with his counterparts from Kuwait and Bahrain about the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

In a post on the social media platform X, the minister said he held talks with Kuwait's foreign minister, Sheikh Al-Sabah, and Bahrain's foreign minister, Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani.

According to Grlić Radman, they reaffirmed their condemnation of Iranian attacks on neighboring countries and violations of regional sovereignty. They also agreed that further escalation could trigger a wider regional conflict with serious consequences for energy markets and the global economy.

The conflict in the Middle East has already disrupted about a fifth of global crude oil and natural gas supplies, pushing oil prices above 90 dollars a barrel this week.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has forced major oil producers - Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Kuwait - to halt exports, rapidly filling oil and gas storage facilities in the Persian Gulf and reducing production at oilfields.

Qatar, which supplies about 20 percent of the world's liquefied natural gas, has also temporarily suspended gas production.

For European consumers, the crisis brings both supply risks and higher prices, as Europe has increasingly relied on LNG imports to replace Russian pipeline gas.

Russia, meanwhile, is benefiting from higher oil prices after the United States granted Indian refiners a 30-day grace period to continue purchasing Russian crude to offset lost supplies from the Middle East.

Supply risks for the United States are considered lower, as the country has become the world's largest producer of oil and gas in recent years, according to several analyses of the global energy market.