Vladimir Putin had a conversation with President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

Vladimir Putin with President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Photo: Kremlin.ru

President of Russia Vladimir Putin had a meeting in the Kremlin with President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who is visiting Moscow to take part in the 3rd Russia-Africa Summit, Kremlin informs.

On the Russian side, the meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov; Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak; Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov; Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maxim Oreshkin; Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office – Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov; Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Arab Republic of Egypt Artur Lyukmanov; Minister of Industry and Trade and Russian Co-Chair of the Joint Russian-Egyptian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation Anton Alikhanov; Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut; Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov; Governor of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina; Director of the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev; Deputy Defence Minister Vasily Osmakov; Chairman of the Russian Fertiliser Producers Association Andrei Guryev; General Director of Zarubezhneft Sergei Kudryashov; Director General of Rosatom State Corporation Alexei Likhachev; and CEO of Rosoboronexport Alexander Mikheyev.

Conversation with President of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Photo: Kremlin.ru

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, friends,

We are very pleased to welcome you all.

Mr President, we are grateful to you for taking the time to attend the Russia–Africa Summit. You and I were at the very origins of this format and held the first Russia–Africa meeting at the highest level in Sochi in 2019.

I recall clearly how it all began. I remember that I asked you to lead this process, and you embraced it with great goodwill and agreed to take on this role. And, one might say, largely thanks to your initiative, this process got under way and progressed quite actively and productively.

Since then, a great deal has been achieved through our joint efforts. The key indicator is that trade between Russia and Africa is growing. Since 2022, its total volume has increased by 50 percent and exceeded $27 billion, with Egypt accounting for a significant share of this total.

I have just concluded a meeting with the heads of leading regional associations of Africa, and we listened attentively to our African colleagues. We share a great many mutual interests across all areas of development – a great many indeed.

Tomorrow, together with our colleagues at the plenary sessions of the summit, we will discuss the current state and prospects for the further development of Russian-African relations and identify new areas of cooperation.

On September 11, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in New Delhi, you and I had a productive exchange of views on the situation in the region and on the further strengthening of friendly ties between Russia and Egypt. The historical relationship between our two countries is rooted in mutual respect, consideration for each other’s interests and mutual assistance. It is developing successfully in accordance with the Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Strategic Cooperation.

Despite regional tensions, bilateral trade continues to grow steadily, rising by 14 percent in the first eight months of this year alone. In 2025, it reached record high levels, exceeding $10 billion for the first time.

The joint intergovernmental commission is working productively, and preparations are underway for its 16th meeting, which will take place in Egypt in 2027.

The flagship project – the construction of the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant in Egypt – is proceeding on schedule. On July 9, a formal ceremony was held to mark the installation of the reactor pressure vessel for the second power unit.

In the first six months of this year, more than 1.2 million of our tourists visited Egypt, with the total for the whole of 2025 reaching approximately 1.5 million.

Today, we have a great opportunity to continue discussing promising areas for long-term bilateral cooperation. We will also touch upon other issues of mutual interest.

I would like to emphasise once again how pleased we are to see you here in Russia.

President of the Arab Republic of Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (retranslated):

Mr President,

It is a great pleasure to see you. Allow me to express my gratitude for your hospitality and warm welcome. I would also like to thank you for today’s event. I see that you work very hard, and I find that truly admirable.

Today, we are striving to strengthen our strategic partnership and hope to expand cooperation between our countries across various sectors – primarily in the economy and trade, as well as in areas related to grain supplies, which are of great importance to our nation. Furthermore, there is the El Dabaa project, which stands as the most significant undertaking in our bilateral engagement.

We are committed to completing these projects according to the established timelines, and we are making every effort to fulfil our payment obligations. I am counting on your support to ensure that we meet our deadlines; we would very much like to maintain the current project schedule.

Mr President, we look forward to strengthening and broadening our cooperation, including the potential for installing new power units after 2030, as well as the development of a research reactor and a testing centre. We are also interested in collaborating on small modular reactors and floating nuclear power plants, and in deepening our partnership in specialised industrial sectors, such as the extraction of uranium and rare metals.

Regarding the industrial zone, Mr President, we also hope for your support. To successfully launch and implement the Russian industrial zone project, we are fully prepared to provide all necessary incentives, benefits, and support to the Russian management company.

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