Tashkent time is - 
22 December 2009
05:15 -
Lavrov ends visit to Egypt, departs for Tashkent
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has ended his visit to Egypt and went to Tashkent for meeting the Uzbekistani leadership.
In Cairo, the Russian minister was received by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, held talks with his Egyptian colleague Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Secretary General of the League of Arab States (LAS) Amr Moussa.
The main result of the Egypt meetings was the mutual certainty that the idea to hold the Moscow Middle East Conference remains in force. Sergei Lavrov highly assessed efforts of Egypt aimed at the restoration of Palestinian unity. “This is one of the key questions that should be urgently settled,” the minister is certain.
Discussing the bilateral relations the Russian and Egyptian foreign ministers stated that “Egypt is one of few countries the trade relations with which have not been damaged despite the crisis.” The ministers expressed hope that the mutual trade turnover by 2009 results will reach 4 billion US dollars.
Relations between Russia and Egypt have a long history. Early on, they were centred on the Russian government’s and Russian Church’s support for the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria. As early as in 1556, Patriarch Joachim of Alexandria sent a letter to the Russian Czar Ivan IV, asking the Orthodox monarch to provide some material assistance for the Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai, which had suffered from the Turks. In 1558 the Czar sent to Egypt a delegation lead by archdeacon Gennady, who, however, died in Constantinople before he could reach Egypt. From then on, the embassy was headed by a Smolensk merchant Vasily Poznyakov. Poznyakov's delegation visited Alexandria, Cairo, and Sinai, brought the patriarch a fur coat and an icon sent by the Czar.
In the 1950s, Gamal Abdel Nasser independent and anti-imperialist policy earned him enthusiastic support from the Communist government of the USSR. The degree of the Soviet approval of the Egyptian leader's policies culminated, rather controversially, in the award of the highest Soviet decoration, the star of the Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin to Nasser during Nikita Khrushchev's visit to the African country in 1964.
During the Nasser years, many young Egyptians studied in Soviet universities and military schools. Among them was the future president, Hosni Mubarak, who went for training in a military pilot school in Kyrgyzstan.
The relationship went sour within years after the death of Nasser, when the new president Anwar Sadat started re-orienting the country toward the West.
Intergovernmental relations improved after the fall of Communism in the USSR, and Russia's appearance as an independent political actor. In April 2005 the then Russian President (currently, Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin visited Egypt, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visited Russia in April 2008. Both countries agreed to work together to help Egypt create a nuclear programme, which is mostly for civilian purposes.
Russians constitute the largest group of outsiders to visit Egypt, while Russia is popular with Egyptian tourists as well.
In 2006, the Egyptian Russian University was opened in Badr City, Cairo, offering training in pharmacy and engineering. Many of its students visit Izhevsk, Russia, for additional classroom study and summer internships.
Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Tashkent is held in the context of the preparation of the Russian-Uzbekistani summit that will be held in Moscow in early 2010.
“During the stay in the capital of Uzbekistan Sergei Lavrov will be received by President Islam Karimov, will hold talks with Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov at which the parties will discuss the most important issues of Russian-Uzbekistani cooperation and interaction in the international arena,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko noted. The sides “will exchange views on cooperation during Uzbekistan’s presidency in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Russia’s presidency in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in 2010. on the situation in Afghanistan, they will also discuss issues linked with ensuring regional security and stability, interaction of the two countries within the framework of the United Nations, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), CIS and Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).”
It is planned to give major attention to issues of the development of economic interaction. Uzbekistan is Russia’s fourth CIS trade partner after Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. In January-October 2009 the mutual trade volume reached over 2 billion US dollars.
Nesterenko noted the active cooperation of the two countries in the sphere of the development of transport, fuel and energy complex, implementation of joint projects and in space exploration sphere. “About 800 joint enterprises with Russian stake are currently operating in Uzbekistan,” the diplomat said.
Russia and Uzbekistan have had diplomatic relations since 1992. Uzbekistan was once a former Soviet Socialist republic. It still has strong ties to Russia and the West. In the aftermath of the May 2005 unrest, Uzbekistan demanded that the United States leave the base at Karshi-Khanabad. In November 2005, Presidents Islam Karimov and Vladimir Putin signed a mutual cooperation agreement in Moscow. // Itar-Tass
In Cairo, the Russian minister was received by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, held talks with his Egyptian colleague Ahmed Aboul Gheit and Secretary General of the League of Arab States (LAS) Amr Moussa.
The main result of the Egypt meetings was the mutual certainty that the idea to hold the Moscow Middle East Conference remains in force. Sergei Lavrov highly assessed efforts of Egypt aimed at the restoration of Palestinian unity. “This is one of the key questions that should be urgently settled,” the minister is certain.
Discussing the bilateral relations the Russian and Egyptian foreign ministers stated that “Egypt is one of few countries the trade relations with which have not been damaged despite the crisis.” The ministers expressed hope that the mutual trade turnover by 2009 results will reach 4 billion US dollars.
Relations between Russia and Egypt have a long history. Early on, they were centred on the Russian government’s and Russian Church’s support for the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria. As early as in 1556, Patriarch Joachim of Alexandria sent a letter to the Russian Czar Ivan IV, asking the Orthodox monarch to provide some material assistance for the Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai, which had suffered from the Turks. In 1558 the Czar sent to Egypt a delegation lead by archdeacon Gennady, who, however, died in Constantinople before he could reach Egypt. From then on, the embassy was headed by a Smolensk merchant Vasily Poznyakov. Poznyakov's delegation visited Alexandria, Cairo, and Sinai, brought the patriarch a fur coat and an icon sent by the Czar.
In the 1950s, Gamal Abdel Nasser independent and anti-imperialist policy earned him enthusiastic support from the Communist government of the USSR. The degree of the Soviet approval of the Egyptian leader's policies culminated, rather controversially, in the award of the highest Soviet decoration, the star of the Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin to Nasser during Nikita Khrushchev's visit to the African country in 1964.
During the Nasser years, many young Egyptians studied in Soviet universities and military schools. Among them was the future president, Hosni Mubarak, who went for training in a military pilot school in Kyrgyzstan.
The relationship went sour within years after the death of Nasser, when the new president Anwar Sadat started re-orienting the country toward the West.
Intergovernmental relations improved after the fall of Communism in the USSR, and Russia's appearance as an independent political actor. In April 2005 the then Russian President (currently, Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin visited Egypt, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak visited Russia in April 2008. Both countries agreed to work together to help Egypt create a nuclear programme, which is mostly for civilian purposes.
Russians constitute the largest group of outsiders to visit Egypt, while Russia is popular with Egyptian tourists as well.
In 2006, the Egyptian Russian University was opened in Badr City, Cairo, offering training in pharmacy and engineering. Many of its students visit Izhevsk, Russia, for additional classroom study and summer internships.
Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Tashkent is held in the context of the preparation of the Russian-Uzbekistani summit that will be held in Moscow in early 2010.
“During the stay in the capital of Uzbekistan Sergei Lavrov will be received by President Islam Karimov, will hold talks with Foreign Minister Vladimir Norov at which the parties will discuss the most important issues of Russian-Uzbekistani cooperation and interaction in the international arena,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko noted. The sides “will exchange views on cooperation during Uzbekistan’s presidency in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Russia’s presidency in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in 2010. on the situation in Afghanistan, they will also discuss issues linked with ensuring regional security and stability, interaction of the two countries within the framework of the United Nations, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), CIS and Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).”
It is planned to give major attention to issues of the development of economic interaction. Uzbekistan is Russia’s fourth CIS trade partner after Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. In January-October 2009 the mutual trade volume reached over 2 billion US dollars.
Nesterenko noted the active cooperation of the two countries in the sphere of the development of transport, fuel and energy complex, implementation of joint projects and in space exploration sphere. “About 800 joint enterprises with Russian stake are currently operating in Uzbekistan,” the diplomat said.
Russia and Uzbekistan have had diplomatic relations since 1992. Uzbekistan was once a former Soviet Socialist republic. It still has strong ties to Russia and the West. In the aftermath of the May 2005 unrest, Uzbekistan demanded that the United States leave the base at Karshi-Khanabad. In November 2005, Presidents Islam Karimov and Vladimir Putin signed a mutual cooperation agreement in Moscow. // Itar-Tass
