Lavrov Met with Egyptian President el-Sisi in Cairo

July 24, 2022 (EIRNS)—Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo today to discuss the latest developments regarding the Russian military action in Ukraine and other key matters. The Egypt Independent reported on the meeting, with input from el-Sisi’s spokesman Bassam Rady.

The meeting also dealt with some bilateral issues, such as cooperation in the fields of grain and food supply, as well as the oil and gas sector, in light of the current crisis in those sectors.

President el-Sisi expressed his appreciation for the bilateral cooperation process represented in Russian projects in Egypt, foremost of which is the establishment of the El Dabaa nuclear power plant and the Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal axis, as well as other investment and economic projects between the two countries in all sectors.

Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said that Lavrov conveyed to President el-Sisi a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding bilateral cooperation between the two countries, and also expressed appreciation for Egypt’s initiative to form a ministerial contact committee within the framework of the Arab League to assist settling the Ukrainian crisis, and the visits of concerned foreign ministers to Moscow, which took place in April.

In turn, President el-Sisi emphasized Cairo’s support for all efforts to quickly settle the Ukraine crisis with dialogue and diplomatic solutions, in order to maintain international security and stability. He assured that his nation was prepared to support solutions with all powers in a bilateral or multilateral framework.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Russian Ambassador to Cairo Georgy Borisenko, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry Maxim Maksimov, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

As part of their bilateral cooperation in a variety of fields, Lavrov stated, “We also offered our colleagues to supply testing systems for detecting monkeypox, if they need it,” after his meeting with Shoukry.

Notably, el-Sisi completed a three-day visit to Serbia last week, the first in more than 30 years by an Egyptian President. Serbia has also abstained from joining Western sanctions against Russia and has maintained friendly relations with Moscow despite the war. The Egyptian leader also visited Germany and France last week.

In Berlin, he met with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on July 19, and their discussions focused on developments in the East Mediterranean, Libya, Syria and Yemen. He focused on the resolution of several crises through political solutions that would preserve the involved countries’ unity, territorial integrity and national institutions, according to ABC News.

French President Emmanuel Macron met with el-Sisi in Paris on July 22, with their latest talks aimed at tightening a relationship based on security and defense ties, as reported by France24.

The pair discussed ways to deal with the “economic, energy and global food security consequences of [the Ukraine-Russian] conflict,” the Elysée said in a statement.