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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)
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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.

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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
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Italy Plans to Return Ambassador to Syria to Reflect New Diplomatic Developments, Minister Says

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)
Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani speaks while meeting with members of the G7, on July 11, 2024, during the NATO summit in Washington. (AP)

Italy plans to send an ambassador back to Syria after a decade-long absence, the country’s foreign minister said, in a diplomatic move that could spark divisions among European Union allies.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking in front of relevant parliamentary committees Thursday, announced Rome’s intention to re-establish diplomatic ties with Syria to prevent Russia from monopolizing diplomatic efforts in the Middle Eastern country.

Moscow is considered a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has remained in power despite widespread Western isolation and civilian casualties since the start of Syria’s civil war in March 2011.

Peaceful protests against the Assad government — part of the so-called “Arab Spring” popular uprisings that spread across some of the Middle East — were met by a brutal crackdown, and the uprising quickly spiraled into a full-blown civil war.

The conflict was further complicated by the intervention of foreign forces on all sides and a rising militancy, first by al-Qaida-linked groups and then the ISIS group until its defeat on the battlefield in 2019.

The war, which has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million, is now largely frozen, despite ongoing low-level fighting.

The country is effectively carved up into areas controlled by the Damascus-based government of Assad, various opposition groups and Syrian Kurdish forces.

In the early days of the conflict, many Western and Arab countries cut off relations with Syria, including Italy, which has since managed Syria-related diplomacy through its embassy in Beirut.

However, since Assad has regained control over most of the territory, neighboring Arab countries have gradually restored relations, with the most symbolically significant move coming last year when Syria was re-admitted to the Arab League.

Tajani said Thursday the EU’s policy in Syria should be adapted to the “development of the situation,” adding that Italy has received support from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.

However, the US and allied countries in Europe have largely continued to hold firm in their stance against Assad’s government, due to concerns over human rights violations.