Egyptian military leader Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi with President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation on February 13, 2014. The two countries are enhancing bilateral relations., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Egypt, Russia pledge close bilateral relations
Osman El-Sharnoubi, Thursday 13 Feb 2014
In a 2+2 meeting in Moscow, Egypt's defence minister Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and foreign minister Nabil Fahmy discuss arms deal, stress closer relations
In his first trip outside the country since ousting former president Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's army chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi met with his Russian counterparts in Moscow to discuss a planned $2 billion arms deal.
The deal includes a Russian air defence system and, if signed as expected, will be the biggest military purchase from Russia since the Soviet era, marking a possible rekindling of a historic alliance that ended in the 1970s when former president Anwar Sadat reoriented Egypt's position in favour of the US.
El-Sisi insisted in an interview earlier this week that closer relations with Russia are no replacement for existing relations with other countries.
His high-profile visit to Russia, in the company of Egypt's foreign minister Nabil Fahmy, featured a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who expressed his firm support for El-Sisi's presidential bid, not yet announced from the field marshal but widely anticipated.
El-Sisi stressed that the meeting represents "a new departure" for Egyptian-Russian military and technological cooperation, reported Egypt's state news agency MENA.
Aside from Putin, the two-day talks were headed by Russia's defence minister Sergei Shoigu and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.
In a joint press conference following Thursday's talks, Fahmy and Lavrov didn't mention the military deal.
Instead, both ministers stressed the importance of Egypt and Russia's bilateral relations in all spheres – military, economic and cultural – and that they see eye-to-eye regarding foreign intervention in the affairs of the Middle East.
On this issue, the ministers issued a joint statement regarding Syria which seemed to be a continuation of Russia's policy on the war-torn country – backing the regime of Bashar Al-Assad and consistently blocking foreign military intervention.
The statement asserted that both countries' rejected foreign intervention in Syrian affairs and stated their "utmost respect for the sovereignty, independence and unity of Syrian lands," and said they condone a political settlement for the Syrian crisis.
Lavrov and Shoigu both visited Cairo last November, a meeting in which the framework for the current arms deal was first signed, according to a Reuters report citing Sergei Chemezov, head of Russia's state industrial holding company Rostec.
Lavrov denied that Russia was striving to replace "any country" – a reference to the US – as Egypt's key strategic partner.
Egypt's decades-long alliance with the US was recently shaken by Morsi's removal from power, a move the US did not initially support.
The US held back deliveries of military hardware – part of its long-entrenched aid program for Egypt – pending a democratic transition in the country, it had said.
"The move closer to Russia is a rebalancing of Egyptian strategic relations after decades of residing in Washington's sphere," said Moetaz Salama, international relations analyst at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.
Salama believes the move reflects a changing world and can be seen as a more realistic and dynamic way for Egypt to manage international relations.
He also saw the trip as a chance to present El-Sisi as a capable leader to Egyptians and the world.
Russia's Putin was the first president to congratulate Egypt on the approval of its 2014 constitution, which passed in a referendum that many saw more as a vote on El-Sisi's viability as Egypt's next president.
Putin said that El-Sisi's run for president would be "a very responsible decision: to undertake such a mission for the fate of the Egyptian people."
"On my own part, and on behalf of the Russian people, I wish you success," he said.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/94193.aspx
US criticises Russia's backing of El-Sisi for presidency
Ahram Online , Friday 14 Feb 2014
US diplomats stress that warming relations between Russia and Egypt will not hurt US-Egypt ties
The United States on Thursday rebuked Russian PresidentVladimir Putin for throwing his weight behind Egypt's army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his as-yet undeclared presidential bid, asserting that growing ties between Cairo and Moscow won't impact "historical" relations between Washington and its key Middle East ally.
President Putin on Thursday endorsed a presidential bid by the Egyptian defence minister during talks in Moscow. Field Marshall El-Sisi has yet to officially announce he is running in presidential elections expected this spring, but speculation is rising that he will do so soon.
But Putin’s premature support was criticised by Washington.
"We don’t endorse a candidate and don’t think it’s, quite frankly, up to the United States or to Mr Putin to decide who should govern Egypt,” US State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a Thursday press briefing.
"It’s up to the Egyptian people to decide."
Putin made his support for to the military leader's presidential aspirations known in remarks broadcast on Russian television.
"I know you have decided to run for president. This is a very responsible decision, to take upon yourself responsibility for the fate of the Egyptian people," Putin told El-Sisi.
"I wish you luck on my own behalf and that of the Russian people," he said
El-Sisi is on a visit to Moscow along with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy for a second round of "2+2" talks with their Russian counterparts, which started last November.
Russia's top diplomat Sergei Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Cairo for two days mid-November to discuss arms sales as well as political and economic cooperation.
That visit came amid tensions between United States and its key Middle East's ally, after Washington withdrew some of its military aid to Cairo following the army's ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July and an ensuing crackdown on his supporters.
Egypt had strong ties with Russia in the 1950s and 1960s, and the Soviet Union was the main supplier of arms to Egypt until the early 1970s. Ties between the two sides soured after Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty bringing in some $1.3 billion in annual US military aid to Cairo.
The US State Department denied that improving ties between Moscow and Cairo would impact Washington's "long-standing, strong, historical relationship with Egypt."
"Egypt is free to pursue relationships with other countries; it doesn’t impact our shared interests," Harf said.
"The United States has unique capabilities to bring to bear military and economically in terms of the relationship," she added.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/94216.aspx
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