Egypt s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi plans to visit Belarus in the near future, said Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Monday.
The dates of the visit are still to be defined, Egypt s top deplomat told the media after a meeting with Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei in Minsk, where they discussed bilateral relations and regional developments in the Middle East.
Shoukry also delivered a letter from El-Sisi to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka on Monday, the ministry s spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said.
The meeting in the Belarus capital involved discussion of the two nation s efforts to broaden cooperation in the fields of politics and economics.
The letter from El-Sisi, meanwhile, expressed the Egyptian desire to further develop cooperation between Egypt and Belarus.
Lukashenka praised the economic reforms that Egypt is undertaking and expressed his nation s interest in maintaining good relations with Egypt due to its key role in the Arab and African area.
During the foreign ministers meeting, Makei praised the Egypt s balanced role in the Middle East, the positive relations between his country and Egypt, and his aspiration for further developing bilateral relations.
The two ministers discussed 45 projects that have been agreed on in the sectors of industry, commerce, information technology, environment, irrigation and agriculture.
Shoukry also addressed Egypt s views on regional issues, especially the conflicts in Syria, Libya, Yemen and Iraq, as well as Egyptian efforts in progressing the Israel-Palestine peace process.
The two foreign ministers also tackled the issue of combating terrorism and the latest developments of the Qatari crisis.
Shoukry also met with Vladimir V. Koltovich, the minister for antimonopoly regulation and trade in Belarus. Shoukry expressed Egypt s hopes of completing a free-trade agreement between Egypt and the Eurasian Economic Union.
Belarus is the second stop in Shoukry s European tour, which started on Sunday in Berlin, where he met German counterpart Sigmar Gabriel.
Shoukry is set to end his tour in Bucharest, handing a letter from El-Sisi to Romania s President Klaus Iohannis.
