Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov to meet Egyptian counterpart Abdelatty

MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is set to hold talks with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty, who is currently on an official visit to the Russian capital of Moscow. The ministers are expected to discuss ongoing developments in the Middle East and the strengthening of partnership between the two countries. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry reported earlier that during his visit Abdelatty planned to discuss the latest developments on the regional and global arenas with senior officials of the Russian government. On April 2, the Egyptian foreign minister already held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and later in the day with Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu. The main issue on the ministers' agenda is expected to focus on the escalation of the Iranian conflict. Moscow and Cairo share their view of the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a political and diplomatic solution to the conflict. Egypt jointly with Pakistan and Turkey act as mediators between the US and Iranian parties, so it is important for Russia to hear Cairo's assessments on this issue. The United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were also hit. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and some other key Iranian leaders were killed in the joint US-Israeli attack.