Russia, Egypt call for ending Middle East hostilities — Lavrov

MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. Moscow and Cairo are calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to the political and diplomatic track in resolving the Middle East conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following talks in Moscow with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty. "We reaffirmed our shared commitment to continuing close coordination at the UN and other multilateral venues. We paid particular attention to the most acute crisis of our time - the unprecedented escalation in the Gulf region resulting from the unprovoked aggression by the United States and Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran," Lavrov noted. "Both Russia and Egypt advocate for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to the political and diplomatic track with the aim of resolving existing differences while safeguarding the security interests of all states in the region without exception, including our friendly Arab neighbors in the Gulf and Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, as well as, of course, the Islamic Republic of Iran," he added. According to the Russian foreign minister, discussion of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is currently being unfairly pushed off the front pages, "even though the problem has not gone away." "We stressed the need to make the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which was reached in October 2025 largely thanks to Egypt’s active mediation efforts, sustainable," Lavrov added.