MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Thursday, Feb. 13, his support for a presidential bid by Egyptian Army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, voicing his hope to strengthen the ties between the two countries.

Russia is looking to take advantage of strains between Cairo and Washington, which has withheld some of its annual aid to Egypt after Sisi ousted Egypt’s first democratically elected president Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi last year.

Sisi, 59, has been urged to run by members of the public who reject the Islamist government he toppled, as well as by members of the armed forces who want a president who can face down growing political violence. Earlier this month, a Kuwaiti newspaper quoted him as saying he would run in an election expected to be held in April.

Sisi made a rare appearance in civilian clothes on his way to Moscow, fuelling speculation he was trying to appear more presidential before officially announcing a bid for top office. 

“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,” Putin told Sisi. “I wish you luck on my own behalf and that of the Russian people.”

Russia is currently negotiating an arms contract with Egypt that Moscow-based defense think tank CAST has estimated at $2 billion.

The deal includes a Russian air defense system. If signed as expected, it will be Egypt’s biggest military purchase from Russia since the Soviet era..

Sisi said his meeting with Putin represents “a new departure” for Egyptian-Russian military and technological cooperation, reported Egypt’s state news agency MENA.

Aside from Putin, the two-day talks were headed by Russia’s defense minister Sergei Shoigu and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.

Fahmy and Lavrov stressed the importance of bilateral relations between their countries in a joint press conference following Thursday’s talks, without mentioning the military deal.

Lavrov and Shoigu both visited Cairo last November, where they set the framework for the current arms deal, according to a Reuters report citing Sergei Chemezov, head of Russia’s state industrial holding company Rostec.

Sisi, Fahmy, Lavrov and Sisi  issued on Thursday a joint statement regarding Syria, which seemed to be in line Russia’s policy in the war-torn country.

The statement stated that both countries reject foreign intervention in Syrian affairs and asserted their “utmost respect for the sovereignty, independence and unity of Syrian lands.” 

It added that Egypt and Russia support a political solution to end the Syrian war, which cannot be resolved by force.

Lavrov denied that Russia was striving to replace “any country” as Egypt’s key strategic partner, in an apparent reference to the United Stated.

However, Fahmy said last year that Egypt would look beyond Washington and keep its “options” open to meet its security needs.                                           

— Reuters, TAAN