El Sisi meets US officials, lawmakers in Washington: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi held more bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the US-Africa summit in Washington last week:

US-Egypt defense ties and security issues were also top of the agenda in a meeting between El Sisi and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday, according to another set of separate Ittihadiya and White House statements. Sullivan “strongly affirmed US support for Egypt’s water security, as well as for a swift diplomatic resolution on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam [GERD] that would safeguard the interests of all parties,” according to the White House readout. Their meeting came two days after El Sisi asked US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken for help to reach a legally binding agreement with Ethiopia and Sudan on the disputed GERD.

El Sisi also met with World Bank chief David Malpass on Friday to discuss help from the multilateral lender and talked security with Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, according to separate Ittihadiya and US defense department statements.