quarta-feira, agosto 5, 2026

Leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia meet after months of stress

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Remark

CAIRO — The leaders of Egypt and Saudi Arabia have met within the kingdom amid months of stress between the 2 regional powers, officers mentioned Monday.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto chief of Saudi Arabia, held talks late Sunday that centered on ties between the 2 heavyweights, in accordance with Egyptian presidential spokesman Ahmed Fahmy.

Fahmy mentioned in an announcement that the 2 leaders “affirmed mutual concern for selling widespread cooperation in all fields.” In addition they agreed to proceed “coordination and session” on regional and worldwide matters, he added.

The assertion didn’t give additional particulars. The assembly got here as el-Sissi’s authorities is struggling to beat an financial crises blamed on the warfare in Europe, but in addition beneath what critics say is mismanagement of the financial system. It additionally got here as two heavy powers have sought to fix their frayed ties with different regional powers, together with Iran and Turkey.

Bin Salman, broadly recognized within the west by the acronym MBS, acquired el-Sissi within the Saudi coastal metropolis of Jeddah on the Crimson Sea. Photos aired by state-run media within the two nations confirmed the crown prince ready for the Egyptian president on the tarmac.

The shock journey was the primary introduced encounter between the 2 leaders since they met in Qatar throughout the opening of the World Cup. El-Sissi additionally acquired bin Salman in Cairo in June 2022 forward of President Joe Biden’s Mideast journey.

Saudi Arabia and different Arab Gulf states have been the principle suppliers of assist to the Egyptian authorities, which has been struggling to beat a staggering financial disaster. In 2022, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates pledged a complete of $22 billion in deposits and direct investments in Egypt, in a bid to stabilize its battered financial system after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Nevertheless, in latest months, Saudi Arabia and different Gulf states appeared more and more reluctant to assist cash-strapped Egypt. They urged el-Sissi’s authorities to make financial reforms to obtain assist. Egypt has already begun to make adjustments as a part of a $4 billion cope with the Worldwide Financial Fund.

“We have to see reforms. We’re taxing our folks. We expect additionally others to do the identical, to do their efforts. We wish to assist, however we wish you additionally to do your half,” Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan mentioned on the World Financial Discussion board’s annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland, in January.

The veiled criticism to the Egyptian authorities’s dealing with of the financial system has strained ties between Cairo and Riyadh. And an internet spat between public figures within the two nations erupted with an opinion piece in an Egyptian state-owned newspaper in February, which argued that Saudi Arabia and different Gulf states had no proper to criticize the Egyptian authorities’s dealing with of its financial system.

Talking on the World Authorities Summit in Dubai in February, el-Sissi watered down the spat and praised Gulf monarchies for his or her monetary help over the previous years.

“Actuality could also be totally different from what we see within the media or what we hear from politicians … even when it’s politicians who suppose they’re in management,” he mentioned.

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