U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Egyptian Foreign Minister
Sameh Shoukry address reporters before their bilateral meeting in
Washington, D.C., on February 9, 2016
Photo: State Department
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
February 9, 2016
SECRETARY KERRY: Good morning, everybody. My
distinct pleasure to welcome the foreign minister of Egypt, Sameh
Shoukry, to Washington, but I would comment at the beginning by saying
that Sameh and I have been seeing each other on a regular basis over the
last few weeks in Rome and London for the Syria conference, for the
meetings with respect to Libya. And there’s a very big agenda right now,
plus there are very important bilateral challenges and issues that
Egypt and the United States are working on together.
Egypt, as everybody knows, is facing a huge economic challenge. It’s
going through a political transition. We very much respect the important
role that Egypt plays traditionally within the region – a leader of the
Arab world in no uncertain terms. And so the success of the
transformation that is currently being worked on is critical for the
United States and obviously for the region and for Egypt.
In terms of the immediate security challenges of the region with the
fight against Daesh as well as the instability in Libya and the need to
stand up a government in Libya, Egypt has been playing a key role, and
we’re very appreciative for their leadership and participation within
the International Syria Support Group. We will be meeting this Thursday
in Munich on the outskirt – on the outside of the Munich Security
Conference in order to try to see if we can advance urgently the
humanitarian assistance that is necessary for Syria as well as try to
advance the prospects for a ceasefire. Nothing could be more critical,
and Egypt is very much committed as a partner in trying to achieve both
of those goals as we come into this meeting on Thursday.
So I’m really delighted, Sameh, that you’re here. Thank you for our
many efforts together in the last weeks and months, and look forward to
working with you going forward.
FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: Great.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you.
FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: Well, thank you very much,
Secretary Kerry. I’m delighted to be once again in Washington and to
have this opportunity to exchange views with you. And primarily, I am
here to reiterate and emphasize the importance that Egypt attaches to
the strategic relationship that exists with the United States.
This is a foundation, a cornerstone of our foreign policy for the
last decades, and continues to be one that has been beneficial to Egypt,
and I hope beneficial to the United States. And we are committed to
continue to strengthen our relationship in the various fields – whether
political, economic – and to address the various challenges that we both
face and meet, and that I believe can only be confronted if we continue
to work closely in coordination with each other. The United States as a
global power and Egypt as an important regional presence, I think, can
address these challenges in the most appropriate and fundamental manner
so as to regain the security and the stability of our region.
On the multilateral front as well, we are coordinating in terms of
the Security Council and our membership for the coming two years in the
council, and we have been consulting consistently, whether in the
meetings we have both participated in or by telephone, to coordinate and
to exchange views on the situation in Libya, in Syria, in Iraq, and
generally in the fight against terrorism. Egypt has been, from the
outset, a member of the coalition against ISIS or Daesh once it was
established, and continues to play a positive and a productive role in
the various efforts, international efforts, underway to eradicate this
terrorist threat.
Again, our perspective has always been a comprehensive approach
dealing with all of the terrorist organizations and to the political and
economic and social conditions that have provided this status of
expansion of the terrorist threat. But we are confident that the
activity that has been taken in the past has resulted in positive
reduction of that threat in Iraq, and hopefully the political process
that has been initiated in Syria will provide us all with more ability
to control the spread of terrorism in Syria and for that country to
regain its stability.
I am hopeful that we will continue to address issues of – in our
bilateral relations with the same degree of constructive approach and
communications that will be beneficial in Egypt’s democratization and
development in the future. We are going through a transitional period,
one that this government has a very defined vision in advancing the
aspirations of the Egyptian people. And we can only do so with the
assistance of our friends and partners, and of course, primary among
them is the United States of America.
Thank you so much, John. Thank you so much.
SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Sameh. Thank you very much. Thank you, my friend.
FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: My pleasure.
SECRETARY KERRY: I forgot to mention – one thing I
didn’t mention, which is very, very important, is Egypt’s coordination
with Jordan, with Israel, with the United States with respect to the
Sinai, and particularly Gaza and the issue of Palestine-Israel. Egypt
plays a huge role with respect to that, obviously, and we’re very – and
then that will be one of the topics that we will also discuss today.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you said last week you
would know in the coming days who was serious about a political
transition in Syria. As the siege of Aleppo continues, led by Russian
airstrikes, is Russia serious about that political transition? And how
can you convince the Syrian opposition that that’s the case?
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, there’s no question – and
I’ve said this before publicly – that Russia’s activities in Aleppo and
in the region right now are making it much more difficult to be able to
come to the table and to be able to have a serious conversation. And we
have called on Russia, and we call on Russia again to join in the effort
to bring about an immediate ceasefire and to bring about full
humanitarian access. That is what this meeting will be about, and this
meeting will tell a lot about the road ahead.
We are not blind to what is happening. We are all very, very aware of
how critical this moment is, and Russia needs to contribute in
significant ways to sustaining the ability of the opposition and others
to come to the table and create an atmosphere within which you can
actually have a negotiation. But they’ve made that very, very difficult
over the course of the last days.
So we will approach this meeting in Munich with great hopes that this
will be a telling moment. And it is urgent – the crisis of humanitarian
catastrophe unfolding before the eyes of the world; the pressures on
the region of displaced people, of refugees; the dumb bombs, cluster
bombs that are being used that are killing innocent women and children;
the stacking up of people seeking an outlet who are starving, who need
food. Russia needs to join with all of us in understanding that this
cannot go on, and that they have a major responsibility as a co-convener
of the International Syria Support Group to create the framework within
which that group can be successful and their word will be good.
Thank you.
