Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry convened a meeting with Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Charbel Wahba on Sunday to discuss the bilateral relations between the two countries and find ways to deal with the ongoing crisis in Lebanon.

Shoukry stressed on Egypt's important role in resolving the crisis by helping the country form an independent government that holds Lebanon’s interest as a priority, said Ahmed Hafez, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The new government should work on garnering the support of the international community in a manner that is consistent with the country’s constitutional foundations, said Shoukry, albeit in a manner that avoids Lebanon falling under the influence of regional or internal powers.

Lebanon's Prime Minister, Saad Al-Hariri, will have to contend with an increasingly dire situation involving a deep financial and political crisis, a coronavirus outbreak, and the massive August explosion at the Beirut port that killed 200 people, injured 6,000, and left 300,000 homeless.

The people of Lebanon are more vulnerable than ever before, with more than 1 million people living below the poverty line and 1.5 million refugees, says the WHO.

Egypt has already sent several aid shipments to Lebanon through an airlift as per President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s directives to provide humanitarian aid to help in the reconstruction of the blast-hit country.

Wahba expressed his country’s great appreciation for the important role Egypt is playing to help resolve the ongoing crisis, he also voiced his country’s readiness to cooperate with Egypt in the future.

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