Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry met on Wednesday US vice president-elect Mike Pence, and delivered greetings and a message from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to the new US administration, the Egyptian foreign ministry announced. According to a statement issued by the Egyptian foreign ministry, President El-Sisi's message to both Pence and US president-elect Donald Trump emphasised the importance of Egyptian-US strategic relations. Shoukry relayed that Egypt was looking forward to working with the new US administration. The message stressed that the United States can fully depend on Egypt as a partner that supports stability and contributes effectively to solving crises in the Middle East and combating terrorism. According to foreign ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid , Pence also listened to Shoukry's explanation of Cairo's ongoing economic and social reforms. The VP-elect said that president-elect Trump was looking forward to working with Egypt and to supporting its efforts to enforce peace in the Middle East. This is the first meeting between Mike Pence and an Arab official after the election of Trump in November. President El-Sisi was the first foreign leader to congratulate Trump personally over the phone on his victory in the elections. FM Sameh Shoukry is currently visiting Washington for several days where he will meet US Secretary of State John Kerry and several congressmen and senators. According to the Egyptian foreign ministry, Shoukry will hold interviews with CNN and PBS TV channels, as well as the Wall Street Journal.
