Egypt reportedly wanted to supply 40,000 missiles to Russia

The leaks of classified information from the Pentagon and other US government agencies have a wider impact: Documents now being evaluated point to possible planned arms deals between Egypt and Russia. According to the American newspaper “Washington Post”, Egyptian ruler Abdel Fatah al-Sisi planned to have 40,000 missiles produced for Russia – secretly to avoid difficulties with Western allies. Egypt has traditionally been a close ally of the United States.

The American newspaper cites a document from the series of leaked American files that were published on the game platform Discord in February and March. You can read here how the secret documents ended up in the world press via an obscure internet chat group.

The data breach caused a stir worldwide, especially as the documents contained explosive details about Russia’s war in Ukraine. But some leaks also reveal information about US allies who are actually kept strictly under lock and key. In addition to references to Mossad’s alleged secret sympathy for the protests in Israel or South Korea’s unwillingness to address the Ukraine issue, the dataset would also include information on Egypt.

As the Washington Post reports, its reporters have seen a document purporting to be a summary of talks between al-Sisi and senior Egyptian military officials on Feb. 1. It would be a planned delivery of missiles to Russia, including 40,000 missiles. It would also concern further military aid to Moscow: Egypt would have planned to supply Putin’s regime with artillery shells and gunpowder.

According to the document, al-Sisi instructed officials to keep the production and delivery of the missiles secret “to avoid problems with the West”. Factory workers were told the projectiles were for the Egyptian army. A senior minister is said to have offered to introduce shift work to keep production going.

The matter is particularly sensitive because Egypt is one of the closest allies of the US in the Middle East. The country is one of the largest recipients of financial aid from the United States. For decades, more than $1 billion a year has flowed to Egypt in US security aid.

US Democrat and Senator Chris Murphy, who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned in an interview with the US newspaper: “If it is true that Sisi is secretly building missiles for Russia that can be used in Ukraine, we should think seriously about the state of our relationships.”

In Russia’s war against Ukraine, the North African country is taking a stance of non-intervention and calling on both Russia and Ukraine to end hostilities. According to observers, Russia is struggling to produce enough weapons because of the ongoing, material-intensive war and Western sanctions. You can read more about it here.

An Egyptian official has denied the allegations, according to US broadcaster CNN. It is about “information absurdity”, the man is said to have told the Egyptian state media. Egypt has a “balanced policy” with all international parties. Russia also commented on the Washington Post report. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the information as “fraud”.

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(t-online/cli)