Russian vice-premier discusses political, military-technical cooperation with Egypt

CAIRO, March 1. /TASS/. Russia and Egypt are priority partners for each other, according to the results of a meeting held between Russian Vice-Premier Dmitry Rogozin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday. As Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said after the meeting, Russia considers Egypt as its main partner in the Middle East and Africa. "A very close and trustworthy political dialog exists between our heads - Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of the Arab Republic of Egypt al-Sisi," he noted. "During Rogozin’s meeting with the [Egyptian] president, the sides confirmed the strategic nature of our relations and the understanding of the situation in the region and placed the main emphasis on the struggle with the terrorist threat, which concerns the governments of both countries," the Russian diplomat said. The meeting also discussed the strengthening of political, military and technical cooperation and coordination of approaches in the UN and at other venues, Bogdanov said. "I mean that we are confronted with very serious challenges and threats in the Middle East," the deputy foreign minister said. "Both sides also discussed a very complex situation in Libya as it has a very lengthy border [with Egypt]. The parties held a very profound exchange of opinions on the situation in Libya, and also, naturally, in Syria, Iraq and on the Palestinian territories and confirmed that our approaches were very close or coincided," the Russian diplomat said. According to Bogdanov, such common views have been displayed lately in the UN Security Council voting. In the estimate of the Russian deputy foreign minister, this is why Rogozin’s visit to Egypt was very important as it confirmed special trustworthy relations between the two countries. The Russian diplomat stressed the importance of the discussions of military and technical cooperation in such format as the talk was about delicate issues aimed at strengthening defense capability and the efficiency of the struggle with the terrorist threat and thus required an exchange of information and experience, and also the deliveries of specific hardware. Read more