Russia, Egypt eye deeper military-technical cooperation

Contacts between Russian and Egyptian foreign and defense ministers have opened the door to deeper military cooperation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday. "Following our contacts in the 2+2 format in Egypt, we have done a great deal to implement the achieved agreements. Our current meeting will allow us to sum up their results," Lavrov told a press conference following talks with Egyptian counterpart Nabil Fahmy and Defense Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also took part in the talks. Noting that Russia and Egypt shared a common approach to regional and global security problems, Shoigu said the two sides agreed to carry out joint military exercises. As a result of the talks, Moscow and Cairo agreed to push forward military-technical cooperation as well as trade and economic cooperation. The visiting Egyptian ministers will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the day