British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson today urged Arab states to end their Qatar boycott, downplaying the odds of a military escalation in the worst crisis to grip the Gulf in years. <br/><br/>Johnson met with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah today and was scheduled to visit Qatar later in the day. Johnson, voicing support for Kuwait as a mediator in the crisis said, what people need to see is de-escalation and progress towards tackling the funding of terrorism in the region, and progress toward an end to this blockade,<br/><br/>Johnson, who also held talks in Saudi Arabia on Friday, said it was highly unlikely that the current standoff would descend into military conflict.<br/><br/>Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain last month announced the severing of all diplomatic ties with Qatar over allegations the emirate bankrolled Islamist extremists and had close ties to Saudi's arch-rival Iran.<br/><br/>Kuwait has been leading mediation efforts to resolve the crisis that is threatening the existence of the 36-year-old Gulf Cooperation Council.<br/><br/>US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to arrive in Kuwait on Monday for talks on the Gulf crisis.