Egypt, russia aim to enhance military cooperation

Jelis

VIB
"A delegation of Russian officials arrived in Egypt Thursday to meet with top officials in a landmark visit that aims to boost military and political cooperation between the two countries.

The visit comes at a time when traditional Egyptian ally, the United States, withholds the delivery of some military aid.

On Thursday, Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu to discuss how to increase and develop military collaboration, state-run MENA reported.

Sisi heralded the talks as a sign of a new stage of fruitful cooperation and a boost to the historic relation between the two countries, which dates back to the mid-1950s, emphasizing the partnership would help fulfill mutual goals and return security to the Middle East region.

Egypt was one of Moscow's closest Arab allies for two decades, starting in the 1950s under the Egypt's late nationalist leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser, but relations between the two countries frosted in the 1970's when former President Anwar Sadat shifted Egypt's foreign policy and military alignment toward the United States soon after the 1973 Egyptian war with Israel and the signing of the peace accord.

Since then Egypt has been one of the largest recipients of U.S. aid.

However, on Oct. 9 the U.S. State Department said it was " recalibrating" part of its 1.5 billion U.S. dollar annual aid to Egypt in response to the ongoing political crackdown in the country, withholding its delivery of some large-scale military systems and cash assistance to the government.

The Egyptian government rebuked the U.S. decision arguing the crackdown is needed to maintain stability and to combat terrorism, mainly in Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy told state-run Al-Ahram newspaper that the relations between the United States and Egypt are strained, adding that Washington mistakenly assumes that Cairo "will always follow U.S. polices and goals."

Russia's Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov also arrived with the delegation on Thursday to meet with officials.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy met with Lavrov, opening a session of talks on political, economic and trade ties, bilateral relations, regional issues, UN reform and the Egyptian initiative on rendering the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, the MENA report added.

In a press conference at the foreign ministry headquarters in Cairo following the meeting, Fahmi stressed the importance of Russia in the international arena when tackling Middle East issues.

Lavrov echoed Fahmy's comments, adding that Egypt is an essential partner for Russia in the Middle East and that Russia looks for a "stable Egypt with strong economy."

"Russia respects Egypt and won't interfere in its internal affairs," the Russian foreign minister added.

Russian officials in Cairo are scheduled to meet with other top Egyptian officials including the Egyptian interim president Adly Mansour.

Analysts predict the discussions will continue to focus on enhancing military cooperation to replace the U.S. military aid which has waned. The Egyptian interim government is currently facing a partial withdrawal of support by its western allies, especially the United States and Britain, after hundreds of protesters were killed in mid-August following the army's overthrow of former president Mohamed Morsi."

CAIRO, Nov. 14 - Xinhua -
 
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