Egypt’s President Says Looks Forward to Deepening Ties with Russia

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reuters file photo
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reuters file photo
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Egypt’s President Says Looks Forward to Deepening Ties with Russia

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reuters file photo
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reuters file photo

Egypt has expressed a desire to deepen ties with Moscow at all levels, to build on the current projects that they cooperate in implementing in Egypt, foremost of which are the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant and the Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal Axis.

This statement was made during a phone conversation on Saturday between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, to review the current developments in Libya.

Sisi told Putin that Egypt is continuing its efforts to facilitate “the current transitional phase and activate the free will of the Libyan people in choosing their leaders and representatives,” presidential spokesman Bassam Radi said.

Egypt's president and his Russian counterpart agreed to “intensify joint efforts and coordination between Egypt and Russia to resolve the Libyan crisis,” the presidency added.

Russia and Egypt agreed to “counter and undermine armed militias and terrorist organizations and put an end to illegitimate foreign meddling in Libyan affairs,” the statement read.



Israel, Hamas Reach Ceasefire Agreement Designed to End 15-Month Gaza War, Official Says

 This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke plumes rising from explosions above destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on January 14, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke plumes rising from explosions above destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on January 14, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Israel, Hamas Reach Ceasefire Agreement Designed to End 15-Month Gaza War, Official Says

 This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke plumes rising from explosions above destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on January 14, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
This picture taken from the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke plumes rising from explosions above destroyed buildings in the northern Gaza Strip on January 14, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, an official briefed on the deal told Reuters on Wednesday, opening the way to a possible end to a 15-month war that has upended the Middle East.

The agreement follows months of on-off negotiations brokered by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, with the backing of the United States, and came just ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump.

Israeli troops invaded Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen broke through security barriers and burst into Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and abducting more than 250 foreign and Israeli hostages.

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 46,000 people, according to Gaza health ministry figures, and left the narrow coastal enclave a wasteland of rubble, with hundreds of thousands surviving the winter cold in tents and makeshift shelters.

As his inauguration approached, Trump repeated his demand that a deal be done swiftly, warning repeatedly that there would be "hell to pay" if the hostages were not released. His Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff worked with President Joe Biden's team to push the deal over the line.

In Israel, the return of the hostages may ease some of the public anger against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government over the Oct. 7 security failure that led to the deadliest single day in the country's history.

The conflict spread across the Middle East, with Iran-backed proxies in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen attacking Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians. The deal comes after Israel killed the top leaders of Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah in assassinations which gave it the upper hand.