The foreign ministers of the countries have discussed how to end hostilities in Gaza and ensure unimpeded humanitarian access to the enclave
The foreign ministers of Russia and Egypt called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during a phone conversation in which they discussed regional conflicts, including in the Middle East and Africa.
According to an official press release, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty stressed the need to stop the 22-month-old conflict between Israel and Hamas and ensure “unimpeded humanitarian access” to Gaza.
The meeting came a day after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin met Egypt’s ambassador to Moscow, Nazih Nagari, for talks that focused on the Palestinian–Israeli conflict and the situation in Syria.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the enclave in the ongoing war, which erupted after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.
Egypt has been leading mediation efforts alongside Qatar and the US but has yet to secure a breakthrough. Earlier this month, however, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approved a proposal to “conclude the war” with Hamas, which includes taking full military control of Gaza before transferring authority to a transitional Arab administration.
The UN has criticized the plan as amounting to ethnic cleansing. Moscow also warned that it would entail the “forced expulsion” of civilians and further aggravate the “already extremely dramatic situation in the Palestinian enclave.”
During Tuesday’s talks, Lavrov and Abdelatty also touched on the Ukraine crisis, issues surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, and instability in Africa, where Moscow has expanded its presence in recent years across several sectors, pursuing military, economic and political partnerships.
“Lavrov apprised his Egyptian counterpart of the key outcomes of the Russia-US summit in Alaska,” the Russian ministry stated.
Apart from regional conflicts, the ministry said the two diplomats discussed ways to deepen bilateral ties and pledged to coordinate positions ahead of the Russia–Arab summit scheduled for October in Moscow and the Russia–Africa ministerial conference in November in Cairo.
