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Russian, Egyptian leaders discuss economy, Ukrainian conflict, Mideast — Cairo

"The sides have discussed ways of strengthening relations between Egypt and Russia, in particular the project of building a Russian industrial zone on Suez Canal’s shore, and the El Dabaa NPP construction project," Presidential Spokesman Mohamed El-Shennawy stated

CAIRO, January 21. /TASS/. Egyptian Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has held a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the Egyptian leader’s office said on Tuesday.

"In the course of the discussion, the sides have discussed ways of strengthening relations between Egypt and Russia, in particular the project of building a Russian industrial zone on Suez Canal’s shore, and the El Dabaa nuclear power plant construction project," Presidential Spokesman Mohamed El-Shennawy wrote on his Facebook page (Facebook is banned in Russia due to its ownership by Meta, which has been designated as extremist).

They also "addressed a number of issues, including the latest developments in the Ukrainian conflict zone," the spokesman said, giving no further details on the subject.

In his words, the two leaders also discussed the situation in the Middle East and touched upon other questions, including the Gaza ceasefire deal and the current situation in Lebanon and Syria.

In that regard, al-Sisi emphasized the importance of "consolidating efforts" on the global arena to ensure implementation of the Gaza agreement. In his opinion, the agreement will pave the way to a political process that will result in the creation of the State of Palestine and will therefore stabilize the situation in the Middle East.

The conversation was held on Russia’s initiative, the Egyptian president’s office said.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said late on January 15 that thanks to the mediatory efforts of Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held in the enclave. During the first 42-day phase of the deal, Hamas will release 33 hostages in exchange for Israel freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Under preliminary arrangements, the first phase of the agreement was supposed to come into effect at 6:30 GMT on Sunday, but its beginning was postponed until 9:15 a.m. GMT because Hamas delayed the list with the names of hostages it would release on day one. On the same day, three Israeli women were returned home. The latest data from the Israeli side estimates the number of hostages still held in Gaza at 94.