Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on Friday there have been talks with the Saudis, and expressed hopes for positive results.
Al-Thani also thanked Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah for his role in the mediation.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar in June 2017, accusing it of backing terrorism.
"In recent weeks, we have moved from a stalemate to some progress where some talks took place between us and, specifically, Saudi," the Qatari minister said at the Mediterranean Dialogues forum in Rome.
"We hope these talks will lead to progress where we can see an end (to) the crisis."
On Iran, he said Qatar would not change its policies towards Tehran.
"We have an independent foreign policy," Al-Thani stressed.
The Wall Street Journal has said that the foreign minister had made an unannounced visit to the Saudi capital Riyadh.
There, he met senior Saudi officials and announced a willingness to cut Doha's relations with the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the 13 demands made by the Arab Quartet to end its boycott of Qatar, said the report.
