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Putin backs al-Sisi for Egypt presidency as huge arms deal finalised
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin threw his support behind Egypt’s military ruler Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in a demonstration of growing ties between the two countries.
Al-Sisi who is also Egypt’s Defence Minister has been widely expected to announce his candidacy for Presidential elections which are expected to take place in April. Although al-Sisi has made no official announcement, at a meeting in Moscow yesterday, Putin nonetheless endorsed al-Sisi’s candidature, saying ,“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 … I wish you luck on my own behalf and that of the Russian people.”
Al-Sisi is in Moscow to tie up an arms deal under which Egypt will purchase around £1.2billion worth of Russian military hardware, which is said to include state of the art warplanes. After the meeting, al-Sisi said, “Our visit offers a new start to the development of military and technological cooperation between Egypt and Russia. We hope to speed up this cooperation.”
This is al-Sisi’s first trip abroad since he orchestrated the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in July. Violence has plagued Egypt since then, with military forces clashing with opponents of al-Sisi’s regime with regularity. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood has been declared a terror organisation and its leaders including Morsi arrested.
Unhappiness over these developments and Egypt’s direction since al-Sisi came to power, prompted the US State Department to withhold some cash assistance and delivery of military hardware to Egypt in October. However, US Congress voted last month to restore some of this aid provided that the Egyptian government ensures democratic reform.
Russia’s overtures towards Egypt would appear to be an attempt to take advantage of US-Egypt tensions and to more widely reassert influence in the Middle East with the United States perceived to be reducing its direct involvement in some parts of the region.