By DPA,
Cairo : Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met Russia’s deputy foreign minister Wednesday in his second high-profile meeting with a foreign diplomat since protests calling for him to step down began more than two weeks ago.
Mubarak met Alexander Sultanov, who is also Russia’s special Middle East envoy, while protesters continued to camp out in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and in front of parliament, demanding his ouster, fresh parliamentary elections and democratic reforms.
Sultanov said that his country did not and will not interfere in Egypt’s internal affairs, but expressed “deep concern” over the unrest, noting the importance of Egypt in the region.
“We do not want Russia to offer any recommendations because we have trust in the wisdom of the Egyptian people, in the wisdom of Egyptian leaders, as well as in the wisdom of the Egyptian government,” said Sultanov after his meeting with Mubarak, which was also attended by Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that the ongoing protests could only be resolved through dialogue, reacting to an attack on demonstrators in Tahrir by pro-Mubarak protesters, some of whom were later revealed to be paid state security officers.
Russia has called on the UN Security Council, of which it is a permanent member, to send a mission to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon to work on stabilising the whole region.
Mubarak had previously met with the United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister, Abdullah ben Zayed al-Nahyan, Tuesday.