CAIRO, June 17. /TASS/. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is in touch with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and other leaders as the situation in the Middle East heats up anew. The interim results of the contacts were discussed by Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov over the phone.
"The ministers touched upon the topic of high-level negotiations that are taking place between the presidents of Egypt, Russia and some other countries to reduce the degree of tension in the region and achieve a ceasefire and return to negotiations," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement following the conversation between Abdelatty and Lavrov.
Both ministers expressed their conviction that diplomacy is "the only way to prevent expansion of the current military conflict, which could engulf neighboring countries" and the entire Middle East.
Israel launched Operation Rising Lion on the night of June 13, targeting Iran's nuclear program. Less than a day later, the Islamic Republic launched a retaliatory attack. In the following days, Israel and Iran exchanged blows again. Both sides reported deaths and injuries as a result of these attacks, acknowledged that some objects on their territory was hit, but stated that the damage was limited.