Russia, Egypt foreign ministers to discuss Middle East crises, bilateral ties

MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. The foreign ministers of Russia and Egypt, Sergey Lavrov and Sameh Shoukry, will meet in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss the settlement of crises in the Middle East as well as bilateral ties, among them prospects to restart flights between the two countries suspended after the downing of a Russian passenger plane over Egypt on October 31. The top Egyptian diplomat will also meet with State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov. "Attention will be focused on tasks to settle crisis situations that the Middle East region has in abundance," the Foreign Ministry said. "Plans are to discuss in detail the developments in Syria, Libya, problems of the Arab-Israeli settlement. As for international issues, issues of countering the threats of terrorism and extremism will move to center stage," the ministry said. Talks on bilateral relations will focus on ways to boost partnership in trade, economic, cultural, scientific and other sectors. Restarting suspended flights Prospects to reopen flights between Russia and Egypt is one of the focal issues in bilateral ties. Air communication was suspended on November 6, 2015, after a terror attack downing a Russian passenger airliner on October 31. Russian Kogalymavia Flight 9268 came down about half-an-hour after leaving the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for the Russian city of St. Petersburg. All 224 aboard the plane perished. In a telephone conversation on March 7, the presidents of Russia and Egypt marked the importance of creating all necessary conditions to resume flights and tourism. Denis Manturov said he was ready to discuss the issue with the visiting Egyptian minister after the Russian services in charge of the issue had confirmed this. In an interview with Tass, Sameh Shoukry pledged that Cairo had complied with all demands from Moscow to step up security measures ensuring the safety of flights. Syrian issue As expected, the situation around Syria will be among the focal points in the talks after President Vladimir Putin ordered the withdrawal of most of the Russian forces in Syria. In a telephone conversation on March 8, the Russian and Egyptian foreign ministers "noted with satisfaction sustainable implementation of the agreements embodied in the UN Security Council's resolution to end fighting, to improve the humanitarian situation and to launch as soon as possible the intra-Syrian dialogue between the government of the Arab Republic of Syria and the opposition under the UN auspices in Geneva," the Foreign Ministry said then. The foreign ministers "emphasized the necessity not to stall the start of the talks and also to ensure participation of the whole spectrum of opposition forces in them," it said. Read more