Saudi Arabia said it was too early to restore diplomatic ties with Syria or reinstate Damascus to the Arab League without progress on a political process to end the eight-year-old war, Reuters reported.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Jubeir also said Riyadh, which backed rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, would not take part in any reconstruction efforts before stability is restored in Syria.

“This (reopening the embassy) is related to progress on the political process, so it is still early,” Jubeir told a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.