Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday discussed arrangements for an upcoming summit in Sharm El-Sheikh on the Gaza conflict, Egypt’s foreign ministry said.
In a phone call, the two ministers discussed details of the summit, which is to be co-chaired by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and US President Donald Trump, following the agreement by Hamas and Israel to end the war in Gaza.
The talks covered international participation in the summit as well as arrangements for implementing the first phase of the Gaza agreement to cease fire and end the war, the ministry said in a statement.
On Friday, Trump confirmed he plans to travel to Egypt and Israel as the first steps of the agreement begin to be implemented. He expressed confidence that the peace plan would hold because the countries involved in and affected by the conflict “are tired of fighting.”
Sisi had invited Trump to visit Egypt during a phone call on Thursday, following the announcement of the agreement.
The Egyptian foreign ministry said the two ministers discussed the summit arrangements “at length,” and that Rubio described the Sharm El-Sheikh summit as a “unique historic event.” The statement added that Rubio praised the role of Sisi and Egypt in “reaching this historic agreement.”
Abdelatty conveyed Sisi’s appreciation for Trump and his peace plan, stressing the importance of monitoring and implementing the agreement on the ground during both its first and second phases.
“These constructive and positive developments embody the common values and goals that unite Egypt and the United States, which are based on the necessity of resorting to peaceful solutions to settle disputes instead of military means,” Abdelatty said. He stressed that “settling the Palestinian issue and embodying the two-state solution will achieve the desired stability, peace, and security in the region.”
According to a report by US news website Axios, Trump plans to hold a summit with a number of world leaders on Gaza during his visit to Egypt next week.
In its statement on Thursday, the Egyptian presidency said that Sisi had congratulated Trump on the success of his efforts to stop the war in Gaza and that the US president had expressed his pleasure at visiting Egypt.
