Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry on Tuesday. The head of the Egyptian foreign ministry arrived in Moscow the previous evening.
Moscow and Cairo maintain regular contacts at various levels, including between the foreign ministries of the two countries. Lavrov visited Cairo in July 2022, and in September the ministers met on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly.
It is noteworthy that the talks with the Egyptian foreign minister in the Russian capital will take place the day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Cairo, who is on a Middle East tour from January 29 to 31. It is possible that Shoukry will tell Lavrov about the results of the meeting with the American side.
According to the Egyptian foreign ministry on the eve of the talks, Shoukry intends to discuss international and regional issues in Moscow, including the Ukrainian crisis. The program of the Egyptian foreign minister's visit to Moscow also includes meetings with Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. The head of the Egyptian diplomacy intends to discuss with Russian officials "all issues of bilateral relations" and the implementation of projects, on which Egypt and Russia cooperate.
Joint projects
Moscow considers Cairo to be one of its leading partners in the Middle East and North Africa region. The countries implement several large-scale joint projects; one of the most significant is the construction of Egypt's first nuclear power plant, which began in 2022. The construction is being carried out by Rosatom in El Dabaa on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in the Matrouh governorate, 300 km northwest of Cairo. The plant is Rosatom's first major project in Africa. As noted earlier by the Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) of Egypt, which is the project customer, the construction of the plant will contribute to the achievement of all-round development of the country in all areas.
Another promising project is the creation of the Russian Industrial Zone (RIZ) in Egypt, which envisages the establishment of a special zone with a simplified tax regime and preferential tariffs on energy resources for Russian resident enterprises. Companies from countries other than Russia are also potential residents of the RIZ in Egypt. Currently, the project is at the final stage of finalizing the necessary documents and agreements.
Negotiations on a free trade agreement between Egypt and the EEU countries are also currently underway. In December last year, it was reported that the EEU will start their finalization and will enter into a corresponding agreement after solving the issues of cancellation or reduction of customs duties on some agricultural and industrial goods.
Further deepening of the Russian-Egyptian partnership will also be facilitated by the second summit and the Russia-Africa economic forum to be held in July. Previously Lavrov noted that Russia is currently summarizing the opinions and proposals of African countries to form a detailed agenda for the summit. The sides are expected to discuss its preparation in detail.
Acute international and regional issues
The ministers will also "compare notes" on urgent regional and international issues. In particular, the sides will pay attention to the Ukrainian crisis, and Lavrov will brief his Egyptian counterpart on the progress of the special military operation. It is also worth noting that Egypt is one of the participants in the Arab League contact group on Ukraine and has previously stated the league's willingness to mediate in talks between Russia and Ukraine. Lavrov last met with his counterparts in this format in September 2022 on the margins of the UN General Assembly.
Ukraine is also a sensitive topic in the context of the global food crisis. The ministers are likely to consider the implementation of the agreements reached in Istanbul in July 2022 on the export of grain from Ukrainian ports and unimpeded access of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to the world market, as well as the supply of Russian wheat to Egypt. For its part, Moscow has repeatedly confirmed the commitment of Russian grain exporters to fulfill all their obligations and stressed that Russia has an understanding of how to work towards full implementation of contracts with Egyptian partners.
Egypt is also ready to mediate in the talks between Russia and the US over the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty: the meeting of the bilateral consultative commission of Russia and the US was supposed to take place in Cairo from November 29 to December 6, but in the end it was postponed to a later date.
The sides are also expected to discuss a Palestinian-Israeli settlement due to a new round of escalation in the conflict zone. The Russian minister last week held telephone conversations with Israeli and Palestinian Foreign Ministers Eli Cohen and Riyad al-Maliki, during which he called on the sides to refrain from actions that could provoke a further deterioration of the situation in the conflict zone of the two countries. The Egyptian foreign ministry also warned the parties of the serious consequences of the escalation and called for "maximum restraint, an end to aggression and provocative measures."
The ministers will also "compare notes" on the situations in Libya and Syria. Moscow and Cairo have repeatedly noted the proximity of the Russian and Egyptian approaches to the problems of resolving ongoing crises and conflict situations in the Middle East and Africa by political and diplomatic means.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS