Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met on Thursday with his US counterpart John Kerry in Washington to discuss a number of regional and international issues as well as fostering mutual ties.

This comes on the sidelines of Shoukry's current visit to Washington to participate in the Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) to open later Thursday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said.

The top diplomats reviewed supporting the political process and ceasefire in Syria, boosting the Libyan national unity government and its capabilities in managing the country and combating terrorism as well as evaluating talks between Libyan rivals under auspices of the United Nations, he said.

Shoukry and Kerry also affirmed during their frank talks their mutual desire in strengthening the Egyptian-American relationship, he said.

Earlier, Shoukry and Kerry held a press conference in which Kerry said that the two ministers worked as partners in administrating a number of files.

Egypt is exercising a crucial role in the ongoing period to help the US in dealing with the situation in Libya, Kerry said, adding that Egypt and the US are cooperating in the counter-terrorism domain as well as facing economic challenges in Egypt.

Meanwhile, Shoukry said that Egypt considers the US as one of its foreign policy's pillars, adding that Cairo will continue achieving its regional and economic aspirations.