MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/. Egypt is interested in the soonest possible settlement of the Ukrainian and Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, visiting Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Tuesday after talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
"Like the entire international community, Egypt is interested in putting an end to the armed confrontation in Ukraine and reaching a final settlement of the conflict as soon as possible. The same can be said about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," he said. "We are interested in the earliest possible settlement. We understand that the basis for this is the inadmissibility of escalation on both sides. It is also necessary to seek a political framework for a two-state solution with the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as the capital."
He also called for more active "international mediatory efforts," including from the Middle East Quarter of international mediators (Russia, the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations) to settle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
"We also discussed Libya and shared Egypt’s ideas on the search for an acceptable option for the crisis’ resolution," Shoukry said, adding that the Egyptian people "express hope for a positive outcome of the political process in Libya, including the holding of elections."
Egypt’s top diplomat arrived in Moscow on Monday evening. The Egyptian foreign ministry said earlier that Shoukry intended to discuss international and regional issues, including the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and its consequences. The program of his visit also includes meetings with Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev to discuss "all issues of bilateral relations" and the implementation of joint projects.
Moscow and Cairo maintain regular communication at various levels. Lavrov visited Cairo in July 2022. In September, the two top diplomats met on the margins of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Notably, Shoukry is visiting Moscow a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Cairo, as part of his Middle East tour from January 29-31.