Shoukry receives U.S. delegation led by Kushner

CAIRO – 23 August 2017: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry received Wednesday a U.S. delegation headed by a senior White House adviser Jared Kushner to discuss ways to support regional peace process, according to a ministry statement.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid posted on his official Twitter account a video of the meeting with Kushner, the son-of-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.


Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and the U.S. delegation led by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner - Press Photo





Earlier Wednesday, the meeting was reported to have been cancelled after a copy of Shoukry’s schedule was sent to journalists, according to Reuters. Kushner arrived in Cairo Wednesday to discuss Middle East peace process with FM Shoukry.

The U.S. decided Tuesday to reduce some of the funds allocated under the US assistance program to Cairo, a step that was regretted by Egypt as a “misjudgment” that could have negative implications on common interests.

“Egypt considers this step as a misjudgment of the nature of the strategic relations that binds the two countries over decades, and reflects the lack of understanding of the importance of supporting the stability and success of Egypt. It also underestimates the size of economic and security challenges facing the Egyptian people, and implies a mixing of cards that may have negative repercussions on achieving Egyptian-American interests,” read the Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement Wednesday.