Egyptian army soldiers advance on a target during a military readiness exercise. Note they are carrying standard issue Russian made Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles and American made Kevlar helmets.
On August 13, 2014 President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met to discuss military and technical cooperation, including trade.
Here is some of what Russian President Putin had to say at a press conference after the meeting between the two leaders that touch on military related matters:
“We (Russia and Egypt) are also actively developing military technical cooperation. In March, we signed a corresponding protocol. We are supplying arms to Egypt and have agreed to expand this cooperation.
We also have good prospects in the automobile industry – both in terms of passenger cars and cargo vehicles.
We gave special attention to contacts between our citizens in such an important area as tourism. Egypt is one of the favorite holiday resorts among Russian tourists. Last year, despite certain limitations, almost two million tourists from Russia visited the resorts of the Red Sea coast. This year the number will be much greater.
We only touched upon certain international issues, such as the Gaza Strip, settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the situation in Syria and Iraq, but we will deal with these later on in our talks.
We fully share Egypt’s active stance in combating international terrorism, especially in conditions of an unprecedented growth of a terrorist threat in the Middle East.
Finally, I would like to thank President of Egypt, Mr al-Sisi for very constructive and friendly negotiations. We confirmed our mutual desire to enhance the multifaceted Russian-Egyptian cooperation.
Thank you.”
Source: Kremlin.
NOTE: The US has recently released $575m (£338m) in military aid to Egypt that had been frozen since the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi last year. Some of all of that money will probably be used to purchase Russian weapons.
The Pentagon and State Department refused comment in this situation!
Source: US unlocks military aid to Egypt, backing President Sisi http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27961933
See related article: Russia offers Egypt no-strings-attached arms dealhttp://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/02/13/russia-egypt-arms-deal/5459563/