Putin makes first visit to Egypt by Russian president in 40 years

CAIRO - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday started the first visit to Egypt by a Russian head of state in more than 40 years, in an effort to reinforce Moscow's political and economic ties with the Arab world.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak received his Russian countepart at Abdeen palace in central Cairo, where they held one-on-one talks followed by a dinner in honor of the Russian leader and his delegation.
"Consultations are ongoing for the creation of a free trade zone and other cooperation agreements," Egyptian presidential spokesman Sulieman Awad told reporters after the meeting.
"There is a joint desire by both parties to support bilateral relations in various fields," he added.
"This marks the first visit by the highest ranking (Russian) leader in Egypt in some 40 years and what mostly matters is that it is the Russian president's first trip to the Arab world," Putin's advisor Sergei Prikhodko said earlier.
Putin was on a two-day visit at the invitation of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak.
Official talks are scheduled for Wednesday before the Russian president embarks on the second leg of his trip that will take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories.
"The Palestinian issue will be central during the discussions on regional Middle East issues," said Awad.
Russia, whose foreign policy is traditionally considered pro-Arab and pro-Palestinian, is seeking to regain some of its influence in the Middle East lost since the fall of the Soviet Union.
In Cairo, Putin will seeks to forge tighter relations since Egypt, once the Soviet Union's main Arab socialist ally, has grown ever closer to the United States from which it receives some two billion dollars in yearly aid.
The Russian president is likely to find a friendly ear in Mubarak, who visited Russia five times since he took power in 1981 and cancelled economic and trade sanctions imposed by his slain predecessor Anwar al-Sadat when Egypt broke away from the former Soviet Union.
The two leaders will discuss Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organization and possible Russian arms exports to Egypt.
According to Prikhodko, negotiations are already under way and Egypt is looking to buy aviation equipment and anti-aerial defense missiles.
The two leaders will also review tourism in Egypt which was visited by 650,000 Russians in 2004, generating 300 million dollars, Putin's adviser added.
Also on the agenda will be two-day trade, which increased two fold in 2004 to reach 834 million dollars, according to Russian official estimates.
Egypt, which hopes to become a huge natural gas exporter by 2010, also counts on Russian technology to develop its local industry.
On the diplomatic front, Putin and Mubarak will discuss their respective roles to help advance a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Moscow is one of the four sponsors of the Middle East peace roadmap plan, which seeks to create a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.
And Egypt, one of only two Arab countries with Jordan to have a peace deal with Israel, is expected to play a security role along the Gaza border when the Jewish state pull its troops and settlers out of the Palestinian territory this summer.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the president of the Russian Federation's chamber of commerce and industry, Evgeni Primakov, who is also a former foreign minister and Arab world expert, are traveling with Putin.
The Russian president will also hold talks Wednesday with Arab League secretary general Amr Mussa and Egypt's parliament speaker Ahmed Fathi Surur, who heads a Russia-Egypt friendship association.

04/26/2005 18:57 GMT