Egypt intends to continue its course of building equal relations with all countries, despite serious pressure from the outside, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st January, 2023) Egypt intends to continue its course of building equal relations with all countries, despite serious pressure from the outside, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Tuesday.
"Many states are under serious pressure," including Egypt, to take sides in current international affairs, Shoukry said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.
"But we are fully focused on continuing to advocate the course of building equal relations with all states. We are also interested in simultaneously finding appropriate, satisfactory solutions to existing crises on the basis of the UN Charter in the spirit of mutual respect and good neighborly relations," Shoukry added.
Lavrov, in turn, expressed hope for a detailed discussion of bilateral cooperation with his Egyptian counterpart.
"I expect today to discuss in detail our bilateral relations, the tasks for their further development in the current conditions that have emerged in the international economy, finance," Lavrov said.
The Russian minister also expressed hope that during the talks it would be possible to discuss cooperation in the UN, "which, like the whole world, is going through difficult times due to attempts to impose on the international community some rules that no one has seen, but which the West wants everyone to be guided by, instead of the principles of the UN Charter."
Many countries around the globe are reportedly under pressure from the West to take a tough stance on Moscow against the backdrop of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.
Egypt's top diplomat said Cairo was interested in expanding trade with Russia using national currencies.
"This will simplify trade for economic operators, so we are determined to increase transactions in these currencies," he said.
Shoukry clarified that Egypt and Russia were only embarking and would need a series of consultations before acting on their ambition to trade in national currencies.
