Avoiding a “general conflagration” in the Middle East will be top of the agenda when European Union and Gulf leaders meet in Brussels this week, European officials have said.

According to AFP, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is among heads of state and government from six Gulf countries expected to attend the first summit with their EU counterparts today.

“One of the objectives is to avoid a general conflagration,” one EU official said. “Both sides are worried about this.”

The 27-nation EU is seeking to foster closer ties with countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which brings together Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The EU is the second-largest trading partner for GCC countries but talks on a trade pact have languished for years and differences also remain on other subjects, including the war in Ukraine. “We see much more eye-to-eye on the Middle East,” another official said.