Moscow Reassures Cairo on Completion of El-Dabaa Nuclear Plant

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. (Reuters)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. (Reuters)
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Moscow Reassures Cairo on Completion of El-Dabaa Nuclear Plant

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. (Reuters)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. (Reuters)

Moscow is seeking to reassure Cairo about the completion of the project to build the first Egyptian nuclear plant.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, meanwhile, stressed the need to exert efforts and address all means leading to a calm and peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine.

Shoukry told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba it is imperative to resolve the crisis with Russia peacefully and stop the bloodshed.

In a phone call on Thursday, they shared the latest humanitarian and field developments in Ukraine and the course of talks between Russia and Ukraine, a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs read.

Shoukry pointed out Egypt's interest in preventing bloodshed.

According to the statement, he briefed his Ukrainian counterpart about the emergency meeting held by the Arab League and its contact group.

Meanwhile, Russian collaborative projects with Egypt have not been affected by the war with Ukraine, according to Moscow’s top envoy to the African nation.

“According to the communication between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, it was emphasized that the El-Dabaa (nuclear power) project and the Russian industrial zone in Egypt have been completed, and that shipments of Russian wheat were supplied to Egypt,” Russian Ambassador to Egypt Georgy Borisenko said.

Sisi and Putin spoke over the phone two weeks ago to discuss the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, as well as ways to strengthen cooperation and friendly relations between Moscow and Cairo, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency.

Speaking at a press conference on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Egyptian Association of Graduates of Russian and Soviet Universities, Borisenko said: “The remittances of students in Russia have not been affected, especially since there are Russian banks that have not been subjected to Western sanctions.”

Egypt, in cooperation with Russia, is inaugurating a nuclear plant in the city of El-Dabaa in Matrouh Governorate on the Mediterranean coast. The plant consists of four nuclear reactors, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, with a total capacity of 4,800 megawatts.



France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
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France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)

Paris declined to comment on Algeria’s “strong condemnation” of the French government’s decision to recognize Morocco’s claim over the Sahara.

The office of the French Foreign Ministry refused to respond to an AFP request for a comment on the Algeria’s stance.

It did say that further comments could impact the trip Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is set to make to France in late September or early October.

The visit has been postponed on numerous occasions over disagreements between the two countries.

France had explicitly expressed its constant and clear support for the autonomy rule proposal over the Sahara during Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s visit to Morocco in February, reported AFP.

The position has helped improve ties between Rabat and Paris.

On Thursday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry expressed “great regret and strong denunciation" about the French government's decision to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region "within Moroccan sovereignty”.

Algeria was informed of the decision by France in recent days, an Algerian foreign ministry statement added.

The ministry also said Algeria would draw all the consequences from the decision and hold the French government alone completely responsible.