Russian Foriegn Mintser Sergi Lavrove and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry (Photo: Al Ahram)
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told to his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, that Egypt will be in the forefront of international meetings over the Syrian crisis, the state owned MENA news agency reported Saturday.
Lavrov informed Shoukry in a phone call Saturday of the outcome of a quadrilateral meeting that took place Friday in Vienna between the foreign ministers of the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Russia to discuss the Syrian crisis.
Russia, which is currently mounting attacks against ISIS in Syria, is backing Syria's Bashar Al-Assad, its closest ally in the region.
But the United States, which wants to see Assad leave power. has expressed concern that Moscow is propping up the strongman.
Egypt has not stressed that Al-Assad must leave office, saying it believes a political solution is necessary to end the 4-year-old civil war
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, a key Egyptian ally that has propped up Cairo economically, has insisted Al-Assad must go.
Earleir this month, Shoukry said that "Russia's intervention in Syria will curtail the spread of terrorism and help deal a fatal blow to Islamic State in the war-torn country."
"Russia's entrance, given its potential and capabilities, is something we see is going to have an effect on limiting terrorism in Syria and eradicating it," Shoukry had recently said in a televised interview.
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