CAIRO. Nov 12 (Interfax) - The Russian Defense Ministry stands ready to help Egypt enhance its defense capabilities, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo on Tuesday.
"I'm glad to pass on to you best wishes from President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. It is with gratitude that he remembers your participation in the Russia-Africa summit as a co-chair. It was intense, challenging, but productive work. The results of the summit confirmed that today Egypt is a leader on the African continent and remains Russia's strategic ally in this region," Shoigu said.
The credit for this belongs to a large extent to the president and the Armed Forces of Egypt, "which are the guarantor of the country's independent and stable development and contain the spread of the terrorist threat in North Africa," he said.
"The Defense Ministry of Russia is ready to help strengthen the national Armed Forces and bolster the defense capabilities of Egypt," Shoigu said.
Shoigu thanked el-Sisi "for this opportunity to meet and discuss key issues of Russian-Egyptian military and military-technical cooperation."
The Egyptian president, in turn, thanked the Russian defense minister for coming, adding that he hopes that the upcoming meeting of the joint Russian-Egyptian commission for military-technical cooperation will be productive.
The commission's 6th session will take place in Cairo later today.
Egypt is one of Russia's leading partners in military-technical cooperation.