El Sisi talks food prices, energy security with MBZ, Bennett
New details from Egypt-UAE-Israel meeting: We have more details on Monday’s three-way meeting between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed after Ittihadiya yesterday released a read-out of the discussion. The three leaders discussed the effects of the Ukraine conflict on energy, market stability, and food security, as well as a number of other international issues, Ittihadiya said. The talks focused on “bolstering global energy security and market stability” as well as regional stability, an Emirati statement carried by WAM said. The status of the Iran nuclear talks was a topic of discussion, diplomatic sources said on Monday following the meeting.
Is Egypt now part of a contain-Iran axis? “We clearly see the strengthening of an axis that offers another narrative in the Middle East, that we can work together and cooperate on economic and defense matters,” Reuters reported Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll as saying in a radio interview. “Israel is committed to build a good partnership with anyone possible against the radical axis of Iran.”
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price welcomed the three-way talks in a press briefing yesterday. “It’s yet another example of what is possible with normalized relations,” told reporters.
MEANWHILE-
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has met with Pakistan President Aref Alvi in Islamabad, the ministry said in a statement yesterday. The visit came as part of Shoukry’s tour of Asia, during which he also stopped by Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
AND- The Biden administration appears to be cozying up to KSA, amid supply crunches and heightened oil prices as a result of the war in Ukraine. The two sides are working to arrange a phone call between President Joe Biden and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, sources told Bloomberg. Relations between the two sides have been strained as during his presidential campaign in 2018, Biden had called Saudi a “pariah,” following the murder of critic Jamal Khashoggi.