Egypt’s FM: Arab countries offer mediation between Russia, Ukraine

CAIRO – 4 April 2022: Arab countries have offered their mediation between Russia and Ukraine for a solution to the ongoing conflict, said Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in a press conference held in Moscow on Monday.

 

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry arrived Moscow, on Monday, followed by Warsaw within the framework of a tour for the Arab League's Ukrainian crisis liaison group at the ministerial level. The tour comes in implementation of the Arab League Council recommendations to hold consultations with the parties concerned in order to work out a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Hafez twitted.

 

Shoukry added in the joint conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit that the Arab League's Ukrainian crisis liaison group affirmed, in its talks with Moscow, the importance of facilitating the exit of Arab communities from the areas of conflict and the necessity of avoiding negative impacts of the conflict on other countries.

 

The Egyptian Foreign Minister also called upon the two conflicting parties to put an immediate end to the military actions between them. He warned against the repercussion of the Ukraine-Russian crisis on the international security.

 

The group, which includes representatives from Egypt, Jordan, Algeria, Iraq, Sudan and the UAE, was formed out of the 157th session of the Council of the Arab League in March.

 

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Abu El Gheit said that this conflict has negatively affected the Arab citizens when it comes to the supply of grain, tourism, and high prices of oil. “These impact development efforts in many Arab countries,” he said during his visit to Russia on Monday.

 

“The Arab situation towards the Ukrainian crisis boils down to supporting all efforts of deescalating the tensions between the two countries,” Aboul Gheit said. 

 

On Saturday, Shoukry discussed the global impacts of the Russia-Ukraine crisis in phone calls with his French and German counterparts.

 

Shoukry briefed France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on the Egyptian steps to deal with the impacts of the crisis, urging France, within the framework of its chairmanship of the European Union, to provide economic and political support to Egypt, a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry read.

 

This should be done within the framework of the EU and also within the international funding institutions in support of Egypt’s efforts to tackle the crisis’s impacts, the Egyptian minister said.

 

Shoukry and Le Drian discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations on all tracks and a number of international and regional issues of common interest.

 

The two ministers voiced appreciation for the positive developments regarding the two countries’ bilateral cooperation in various fields.

 

Shoukry also welcomed the results of the visit of the French Minister of Finance, Bruno Le Maire, to Egypt last week to follow up on the implementation of a number of existing cooperation projects and to sign a number of important agreements to launch new paths of cooperation.

 

During his visit to Cairo, Le Maire said President Emmanuel Macron and the French government are keen to support Egypt, especially after it was affected by the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, with regard to commodity prices, and the lack of wheat imports globally, which will greatly affect a number of countries over the coming months.

 

The French minister met with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli, describing the meetings as fruitful and constructive.

 

Shoukry also, made a phone call with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, during which they focused on ways to support bilateral relations at the political and economic levels.

 

They also discussed developments of international issues of common interest, including the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.

 

The two ministers discussed ways of joint action to enhance Egyptian capabilities to face the negative economic repercussions associated with the Ukraine crisis