April  26, 2001

Mubarak, Putin joint press conference

        President Vladimir Putin lauded as time-honoured and deeply rooted Russian-Egyptian relations. Speaking at a press conference at the conclusion of talks with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak, Putin said the efforts exerted by both countries led recently to promoting their ties and giving them momentum in all domains. ”Egypt's important status on the international scene confirm that the results we would reach with our joint cooperation would be positive and good,” said Putin.

Putin added that talks with Mubarak were mainly devoted to discussing the current situation in the Middle East and the details of the Arab-Israeli settlement.

”Talks also dwelt on the Iraqi problem and the importance of boosting the role of the international Organisations,” he added.

Putin praised the high-level cooperation between the two countries' Foreign Ministries, hailing Egyptian-Russian cooperation in the economic and trade domains.

He paid tribute to the active efforts exerted by the Egyptian-Russian joint government committee in activating efforts to promote bilateral relations in all fields.

”The agreements signed, a long-term agreement on scientific and technological cooperation and a friendship statement, would be the basis for developing Egyptian-Russian ties in the coming junction,” said Putin.

President Mubarak stressed, on his part, that Egyptian-Russian ties are passing through one of their most distinguished periods.

”Talks were held in a cordial and friendly atmosphere and yielded very good substance,” he added.

President Mubarak termed as frank his talks with Putin, adding that they agreed on promoting cooperation in the field of Gas and instructed the joint committees to mull over activating trade and cooperation between the two countries.

He said that they signed a joint declaration of understanding within the framework of friendship and cooperation with the aim of promoting economic, scientific, health and technological relations between the two countries' peoples and governments.

President Mubarak said he agreed with Putin on exchanging visits between various delegations to further boost cooperation. The Middle East peace process and the situation in Iraq came high on the talks, he said, highlighting joint understanding on the issues discussed.

Mubarak said that all parties are endeavoring to find out a framework enabling Palestinians and Israelis to return to the negotiation table, asserting that this is the only way to solve their dispute.

”We have repeatedly made it clear that the use of military force would never settle the issue and the two sides must return to negotiations,” said the Egyptian leader.

Mubarak said that this prompted Egypt and Jordan to table their joint initiative which aims at:

- Implementing what has been agreed upon in Sharm el-Sheikh in 1999 as well as implementing the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement on Israeli withdrawal stages.

- Finding out a way to stop violence and re-start negotiations. The joint overtures stipulate forming three security, political and economic committees to emerge from the current logjam, said Mubarak. He expressed his conviction that Russia is backing the proposal.

”President Putin asserted that no final settlement would be concluded without taking into consideration the interests of all parties. President Mubarak has expounded in detail the stances of Egypt and the Arab countries,” he added.

Commenting on the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative on halting violence and reviving negotiations, President Putin described it as an important step in the right direction.

”All settlements must be based on previously reached agreements and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” he added.

”We see eye to eye with President Mubarak on the necessity of stemming violence and inviting all parties to return to the negotiation table,” said the president.

President Putin said the historic roots of Egyptian-Russian relations can be the launching pad for updating bilateral relations in all domains. He put at dlrs 500 million the volume of trade exchange between the two countries, scaling down from dlrs 2 billion in the old days.

The Soviet Union and Russia had contributed to a host of projects that are now pillars of the Egyptian industry and economy, he said, adding that Russian experts are now returning to some of these projects.

Putin highlighted prospects for very good bilateral cooperation in manufacturing planes and in the fields of chemical industries, energy, infra-structure, mining, military and technology.

If the Egyptian side moves with the Russian one in one direction, we would reached very positive, quick and good results, he added.

Putin said that a number of projects can be carried out on the bilateral level and others can be extended to other countries to benefit from them.

Commenting on the same issue, President Mubarak said the historic roots should be the launch pad for present and future cooperation between Egypt and Russia.

"President Putin and myself agreed on promoting industrial and investment cooperation in all fields and projects," he added.

Putin thanked president Mubarak and his accompanying delegation for accepting his official invitation to visit Russia.

The Russian president credited Mubarak with the special status enjoyed by Egypt on the international scale as well as the momentum given to Egyptian-Russian bilateral relations in all domains.