Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi stressed the depth of the Egyptian-French relations, and the close cooperation between the two countries at the military and security levels.

Sisi expressed Egypt's aspiration to develop the bilateral cooperation in the coming period, in addition to intensifying the bilateral coordination and consultation on issues and challenges of common concern and ways to deal with them.

This came during Sisi’s meeting on Monday with Florence Barley, the French minister of armed forces, in the presence of Minister of Defense and Military Production Mohamed Zaki, as well as the French ambassador to Cairo.

According to a statement released by presidency spokesman Bassam Rady, the president welcomed the French minister in Cairo, and sent his best regards to French President Emmanuel Macron.

For her part, Barley conveyed the greetings of President Macron to Sisi, stressing the importance that France attaches to enhancing coordination and strengthening the existing partnership between the two countries at all levels, including the military and security levels, especially in light of Egypt's efforts to support security and stability in the Middle East and Africa.

The spokesman added that the meeting discussed ways to enhance military cooperation between the two countries; also,the two sides exchanged views regarding the developments in the regional files and tackled the joint efforts to reach political settlements for various existing crises in the region.