On the 15th of November 2023, the council hosted the Professor and orientalist Aleksey Vaselev, the former special envoy of President Vladimir Putin to Africa, and the former director of Africa Institute which is affiliated to Russian Academy for Science, to talk about “Egyptian-Russian relations and prospects of African-Russian cooperation”. Started the meeting Ambassador Mohamed Al-Oraby, then Ambassador Dr. Ezzat Saad introduced Professor Vaselev to the members of the council.
In the meeting, Professor Vaselev presented his view concerning the situation in Gaza strip since “Toofan Al-Aqsa” operation which is operated by Hamas movement, also, tackling the latest development in the strip after the counter operation by Israel. In addition to that he talked about Hamas movement and reasons of establishing it and the role of Israel in this regard, mentioning the relation between Hamas, Palestine, and Israel, also, speaking about the effect of internal issues of Israel on its foreign policy.
In a related context, Professor Vaselev affirms that Russia is calling for the implementation of two states solution according to the boarders of 1967 in addition to East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. In this regard, he added that Russia admits that Palestine is an independent state has its sovereignty, this since the era of Soviet Union
Regarding Russian policy towards the Middle East, he indicated that the core of it is openness towards all countries without interfere in the internal affairs of the countries. Pointing out that, the Russian role in Syria doesn’t seek confrontation with other actors in Syria like Turkiye and United States of America. Also, Russia aims for cooperation with the gulf and African countries in development field.
Concerning the Egyptian-Russian relations, the professor said that it’s a long historical relations since the era of Soviet Union. In this regard, Russia seeks cooperation with Egypt in different fields. Besides, he indicated that Egypt has a workforce and chances for development and this can only be achieved through internal stability, resolving the issue of the Blue Nile, and the increase in population, in addition to achieve stability in the region, as these factors will guarantee a bright future for Egypt.
