Putin sees Egypt as Russia's privileged partner

When opening his narrow-format talks with Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, "We see Egypt as our privileged partner, especially in the Middle East, African affairs." "Egypt is a country that has many-year and very close relations with Russia," Putin said.

In his words, Moscow treats Mubarak as a close friend who has special relations with Russia, and who has spent many years studying in our country.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stated his interest in maintaining and developing cooperation with Russia.

He also said, "I am always interested in stable relations with Russia, in making cooperation as strong as possible, and also in developing cooperation with the Russian Federation." Mubarak recalled that bilateral relations had a long history. "They began in the 1950s, during the revolution, under President Nasser," said the president.

He stressed that his country highly assessed Russian-Egyptian relations that are on the rise today.

According to the Egyptian leader, Russia has always helped Egypt a lot at various stages of the country's history.

"Russia has provided aid in weapons, in economic tasks, and industrial development. Many facilities built with Russia's help have become symbols of our cooperation," the Egyptian leader said citing a metal working plant as an example.