Russia and Egypt tighten ties with trade and arms deals
A growing rapprochement between Egypt and Russia echoes a Cold War era in which Cairo was Moscow’s closest and most strategic Arab ally.
But as decades of mistrust come to an end and a firm alliance begins to take shape, the new dynamic has few similarities to what the world witnessed in the 1950s and 1960s, when Egypt relied on the Soviet Union to arm it while the country engaged in an existential fight against Israel.
It was a time of global polarisation that left most non-aligned Third World nations such as Egypt little choice but to join either the Soviet or US camp.
As Washington reduces its military involvement in the Middle East, Moscow’s growing role in the region – particularly in Syria – adds geopolitical significance to the union.
For Egypt, the alliance reflects President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s drive to restore the country as a regional powerhouse and benefit from Moscow’s growing standing in the area.
So far, Russia has used its influence in Syria to allow Egypt to mediate a series of regional ceasefires between government forces and their opponents – a move that has given Cairo a small foothold in a country whose future could determine the fate of the region.
Syria has also come to represent a place where their shared beliefs take shape, including a zero-tolerance policy towards militant Islam and a joint conviction that a hasty departure by President Bashar Al Assad would plunge Syria into a new cycle of bloodshed and again fragment the country.
Egypt’s old alliance with the Soviet Union began to unravel in 1972 when president Anwar Sadat ordered the expulsion of thousands of Soviet advisers and inched closer to the US.
An America-sponsored peace treaty signed in 1979 sealed the new alliance, and Egypt soon became one of Washington’s closest Arab allies.
Egypt’s relations with the US went through a rocky period under Barack Obama’s administration after the 2011 uprising that toppled US ally Hosni Mubarak and the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood the following year.
With Mr Obama gone and Donald Trump now in the White House, the two nations are close again, but with a key difference – Egypt is just as close to Russia and their bond is likely to grow stronger.
Egypt sees in Russia a reliable ally that is indifferent or unwilling to follow the West’s example and criticise its human rights record, regarded by Cairo as meddling in its affairs.
Cairo and Moscow’s closeness is best seen in Mr El Sisi’s four visits to Russia since taking office in 2014, with the latest one ending only last week.
Mr El Sisi’s trip ended with him and President Vladimir Putin signing a partnership treaty that, in the words of the Egyptian leader, should “open a new chapter in the history of our co-operation”.
Mr Putin has been to Egypt twice since 2014. In December he signed a deal with Mr El Sisi for a Russian company to build Egypt’s first nuclear power station west of Alexandria.
Meanwhile, Egypt has been spending on Russian arms, warplanes and other hardware. Bilateral trade rose by 62 per cent last year, reaching $6.7 billion.
But the key question of air travel between the countries remains unresolved, to the dismay of the Egyptians who regard Russian flights to their Red Sea resorts as essential to the tourism industry.
Last week, Mr El Sisi urged Russia to resume flights, suspended after a bomb blew up a Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula in 2015 killing all on board and straining ties between the two countries.
Bilateral trade between Egypt and Russia rose by 62 per cent last year, reaching $6.7 billion