Egypt Expresses Condolences over Russian Ambassador Death

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry expressed deep condolences over the death of Russian Ambassador to Egypt Sergei Kirpichenko, who died in a Cairo hospital on Monday.

"We express our sincere condolences to the Foreign Ministry over the death of the Russian ambassador to Egypt, Sergei Kirpichenko, in a hospital in Cairo today," said a statement issued by Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez.

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Ambassador Kirpichenko died this morning in a Cairo hospital.

In September 2011, Kirpichenko became Russia's ambassador to Egypt, and at the same time a plenipotentiary representative to the Arab League. Prior to that, he headed Russian diplomatic missions in the UAE

Kirpichenko was born in 1951. In the course of his career, he headed Russian diplomatic missions in the UAE, Libya, and Syria.

In 2011, he was appointed Russia’s Ambassador to Egypt and representative to the League of Arab States.

Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Egypt were established on August 26, 1943.

Egypt has an embassy in Moscow. Russia has an embassy in Cairo and a consulate-general in Alexandria.

Russia’s relationship with Egypt developed as both lands underwent prolonged periods of modernization.

Constrained by geopolitical factors in the Middle East, Russia approached Egypt in the late nineteenth century and especially in the first fifteen years of the twentieth century with “soft power.”

This approach included mutually beneficial trade relationships, cultural exchanges, and international assistance in the realm of information and technology.

A close examination of the Russo-Egyptian relationship reveals that the Russian Empire was furthering its ends in the Middle East by peaceful means intended to impress the region’s societies favorably, a concept sometimes characterized today as “public diplomacy”.