Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met on Friday with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington DC for discussions on regional and security issues, ahead of a Paris summit on the stalled Israel-Palestine peace process.
Shoukry is in the United States for counter-terrorism talks, chaired by Egypt, at the UN Security Council in New York.
Foreign Minister Spokesperson Ahmed abu Zeid said the two men had a "long meeting", including extensive discussions on US-Egyptian relations and ways of boosting them to achieve mutual benefit.
The talks also tackled coordination on pivotal regional issues, including the situations in Libya and Syria, the two men sharing their nation's visions of how to foster stability in the region to end the current crises.
A key point on the agenda, though, were preparations for an Israel-Palestine peace conference that will take place in Paris at the end of the month.
France is hosting the talks on May 30 in order to restart the long-stalled Israel-Palestine peace process. Along with Egypt and the US, the conference will be attended by ministerial delegations from the EU, Russia and the Arab League.
Invitations have not been sent out to Israel or the Palestinian Authority yet, but it is hoped they will attend a second meeting for peace talks later in the year, assuming the Israelis can be convinced to take part.
French foreign minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday in an attempt to convince him to attend the talks on May 30. However, the Israeli leader has so far rejected the idea of reviving the peace process.
Speaking to reporters recently, Netanyahu dismissed the effort, saying, “Can anyone explain what this initiative is about? Even the French don’t know,” he said.
Speaking at the UN on Thursday, the French ambassador to the UN, François Delattre, said the peace talks were aimed at halting the “wave of violence with increasing intensity that has persisted for six months and has led to hundreds of deaths and thousands of wounded." He said that a political effort was needed to acheive a two-state solution.
Egypt has been supportive of renewed Israel-Palestine peace talks. During a visit to Cairo by Ayrault in March, Shokry said Cairo "appreciates" the initiative from France, which he said "guarantees the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people."
