Cairo, Egypt: Russian-Egyptian talks | Politics, Middle East

• published: 11 Feb 2015
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Russian-Egyptian talks February 9 – 10, 2015, Cairo Vladimir Putin made a two-day official visit to Cairo at the invitation of President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. On the first day, the two presidents attended the Cairo Opera House. On the following day, Russian-Egyptian talks took place, during which prospects for further development of the entire range of bilateral relations and pressing international issues were discussed. The two presidents witnessed the signing of a number of documents on bilateral cooperation, including in nuclear energy and investment. In the course of his visit, Vladimir Putin also met with Patriarch Theodoros II of Alexandria and All Africa. ***[Photo & Video Credits: RT/the Presidential Press & Information Office] Russian-Egyptian talks February 10, 2015, Cairo Vladimir Putin met with President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the Al-Qubba Palace in Tahrir Square, Cairo. The President of Egypt welcomed the Russian leader at the palace’s main entrance. A military band played the national anthems of the two states, after which the two leaders posed for photographs. Bilateral talks between Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi were followed by negotiations in expanded format with the participation of the two nations’ delegations. The Russian President’s official visit to Egypt resulted in the signing of a number of documents on bilateral cooperation in nuclear energy and investment, witnessed by the two leaders. After the signing ceremony, Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi made statements for the press. * * * PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin by thanking President el-Sisi for his invitation and the residents of Cairo for their very warm, friendly reception that all the members of the Russian delegation and I have experienced. We all saw your friendly attitude to Russia. My previous visit to Cairo was 10 years ago, and my colleagues and I are very happy to find ourselves once again in the hospitable land of Egypt. Despite all the problems Egypt had to overcome in the past years, in our bilateral relations we have managed not only to avoid a slow-down, but even reached new heights in our cooperation. Today we had very constructive and substantive negotiations with the President; we continued the meaningful exchange on the entire range of Russian-Egyptian relations and key regional and international matters, which we began in Sochi last year. That was Mr President’s working visit. I hope he will accept my invitation and come to Moscow on an official visit so we could continue our contacts that, in my opinion, are developing positively. Today we gave priority attention to matters of economic cooperation. I would like to note that in 2014 mutual trade turnover grew by more than 80 percent. Among the key factors of this growth was the intensive development of our cooperation in agriculture. The export of Russian wheat to Egypt doubled, as did the import to Russia of Egyptian agricultural produce. Our cooperation in the power industry is developing rapidly. In 2014, Russia supplied to Egypt more than 1.4 million tons of its petroleum products. More than one sixth of all oil production in Egypt is arranged through Russia’s LUKOIL company. We discussed this today, and Mr President already mentioned our possible cooperation in nuclear power. Here, if the final decision is made, we are talking not only about the construction of a nuclear power station. We are discussing the creation of a new industry in Egypt – the nuclear power industry, which involves the construction of a nuclear power station, personnel training, promotion of science and a whole range of measures that will make it possible to create a new industry in Egypt. We also see great prospects for our cooperation in space exploration and the joint use of the GLONASS Russian navigation satellite system. We will focus our efforts on promoting an entire range of investment projects, primarily in such areas as transport infrastructure, engineering and chemical industry. The instate commission that has resumed its work will be handling all these matters. I would also like to stress the significance of the Memorandum on attracting investment and the Agreement on joint investment projects that were signed during this visit. .... .... Thank you for your attention. February 10, 2015. ***