CAIRO, Feb. 16 (Aswat Masriya) – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met Tuesday with the Kuwaiti Foreign Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah in the Presidential Palace in Cairo, and discussed bilateral relations.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri also attended the meetings.

Al-Sabah asserted Kuwait's keenness on supporting Egypt on its "developmental path" in various fields, Presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef said.

According to a presidency statement on Tuesday, the meeting involved discussions regarding the latest developments in the Arab region. The two parties agreed on the need to strengthen joint Arab efforts to counter current challenges and work towards conflict resolution.

In parallel, Shukri and his Kuwaiti counterpart organised a press conference Tuesday, where Shukri stated that Egypt considers the Saudi decision to send ground troops to Syria a "unilateral and sovereign" decision that does not come within the context of the Islamic Anti-terrorism alliance.

Egypt, along with 33 other countries, became part of a Saudi-launched "Islamic Alliance" to fight terrorism in mid-December.

Saudi Arabia has long been pushing for the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad through significant funding and arming of rebel groups throughout the Syrian conflict. Egypt has supported a political solution.

Shukri stressed that Egypt supports a political solution to the Syrian crisis and affirmed Egypt's support to the efforts of the UN Special Envoy of the Secretary General for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

"The UN envoy has been entrusted with the resumption of negotiations with the Syrian government in order to form a transitional government and draft a constitution, and we support these efforts," Shukri stated.

Egypt is part of the International Syria Support Group, which last met on Thursday and Friday in Munich. The group reached the decision to commence humanitarian access to besieged areas as well as forming a task force entrusted with elaborating a mechanism for a nationwide ceasefire.  

Egypt has enjoyed the support of Kuwait, as well as of Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, since the military ouster of Mohammed Mursi as president in July 2013 following mass protests against his rule.

During the Egypt Economic Development Conference, which was held in March 2015, Kuwait pledged $4 billion in investment in Egypt to boost the country's economy. Years of political turmoil have taken a toll on the Egyptian economy, halving the state’s foreign reserves and driving away tourists, which has contributed to a dollar shortage.