FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks With Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry Before Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Cairo, Egypt
June 22, 2014
FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: (Via interpreter) I am very pleased to welcome you, Mr. Secretary of State Kerry. This is a very important visit for us and for our bilateral relations, and also for – given the current regional situation. I hope we will have a fruitful discussion here, and later in the day you get to meet the president, and I wish you all the blessings and good luck.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, it’s a great pleasure for me to be back in Cairo and have a chance to meet with the new foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, who I know from his prior work in Washington, New York and elsewhere is an experienced diplomat, and I very much look forward to working with him on critical issues facing our countries.
Obviously, this is a critical moment of transition in Egypt, with enormous challenges. The United States is very interested in working closely with President al-Sisi and his cabinet and Egypt in order to help make this transition as rapidly and smoothly as possible. There are issues of concern, as the minister mentions, but we know how to work at these and I look forward to having that discussion with him this morning.
And final comment: With the regional issues, as critical as they are – Syria, Iraq and other issues regarding instability through terrorism in the Sinai, elsewhere – we have a lot to talk about and a lot to work on. So we look forward to having this discussion, and I thank Sameh for his very generous welcome here. Thank you, sir.
FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: Thank you, John.
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, it’s a great pleasure for me to be back in Cairo and have a chance to meet with the new foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, who I know from his prior work in Washington, New York and elsewhere is an experienced diplomat, and I very much look forward to working with him on critical issues facing our countries.
Obviously, this is a critical moment of transition in Egypt, with enormous challenges. The United States is very interested in working closely with President al-Sisi and his cabinet and Egypt in order to help make this transition as rapidly and smoothly as possible. There are issues of concern, as the minister mentions, but we know how to work at these and I look forward to having that discussion with him this morning.
And final comment: With the regional issues, as critical as they are – Syria, Iraq and other issues regarding instability through terrorism in the Sinai, elsewhere – we have a lot to talk about and a lot to work on. So we look forward to having this discussion, and I thank Sameh for his very generous welcome here. Thank you, sir.
FOREIGN MINISTER SHOUKRY: Thank you, John.
