Russian envoy: Relationship between Sisi, Putin serves two countries' interests

CAIRO, Aug 23 (MENA) - Russian Ambassador in Cairo Georgy Borisenko has said that the close relationship between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Vladimir Putin contributes to strengthening ties between the two countries and serves their interests.

Marking the 77th anniversary of establishing the bilateral diplomatic relations, Borisenko told MENA on Sunday that the deeply-rooted Russian-Egyptian cooperation could be beneficial to the whole region, especially as the two countries have identical viewpoints on several regional and international issues.

The Russian diplomat described Egypt as one of Russia's main trade partner in the Middle East and North Africa.

He also pointed to the ongoing close and continued coordination between Egypt and Russia at the presidential, ministerial and parliamentary levels, despite the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Borisenko went on to say that Cairo and Moscow are holding ministerial consultations in the fields of foreign affairs and defense, with a view to pushing forward the bilateral strategic partnership.

The two sides are also working to boost economic and trade cooperation, within the framework of the joint Egyptian-Russian committee, he said.

The Russian ambassador expressed hope for promoting parliamentary relations between Cairo and Moscow, especially after establishing the newly-elected Egyptian Senate.

Russia pays great attention to stepping up cooperation with Egypt in the domain of security and counter-terrorism, Borisenko added. 

Concerning the Syrian and Libyan crises, the Russian envoy said that Egypt and Russia call for holding a comprehensive dialogue between the warring parties to reach political solutions to the conflicts in the two Arab countries.

Borisenko explained that his country understands Egypt's concerns over its national security, especially with the presence of many terrorists in east Libya.

He stressed Russia's support of the recent Cairo Declaration, which paves the way for finding a peaceful political solution to the Libyan conflict.

Borisenko revealed that his country is in consultations with Turkey to reach a permanent ceasefire in Libya and stop the advance of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) forces into the strategic city of Sirte.

Asked about the economic and trade cooperation between Egypt and Russia, he said that Russian companies are highly interested in enhancing cooperation with Egyptian businessmen in the local market, noting that Russian direct investments in Egypt increased in the past few years to reach 4.7 billion dollars in 2020.

Regarding the Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), he said that the area is expected to lure new investments worth USD 7 billion.

With regard to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) file, Borisenko underlined that Moscow is trying to persuade Addis Ababa to peacefully resolve this issue, without causing harm to any of its neighbors.