US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Washington is looking to boost cooperation with Egypt to resolve challenges in the Middle East during his talks with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in Washington on Tuesday, Egypt’s presidency said.

El-Sisi received Pompeo at his residence at Blair House, the official presidential guest house, in his first official talks after he arrived in Washington on Monday for a four-day visit.

The president and Pompeo discussed boosting the US-Egyptian strategic partnership as a mainstay of security and stability in the Middle East, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The Egyptian president said he looks to boost political and security cooperation with the US in the coming period, the spokesman added.

The two addressed the crises in Libya, Syria and Yemen, stressing that political solutions are the only way out.

El-Sisi and Pompeo also discussed Palestinian-Israeli peace efforts, and ways to prevent escalation in violence in the Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian president is set to meet with US President Donald Trump in the White House on Tuesday.