Friend or foe?

Egypt’s reported rockets for Russia could jeopardize $1.3bn in annual US military support

By Julian Pecquet, in Washington

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Posted on April 12, 2023 07:23

© Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi make a press statement following the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, on October 24, 2019. (Photo by Sergei CHIRIKOV / POOL / AFP) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi make a press statement following the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art in Sochi, Russia, on October 24, 2019. (Photo by Sergei CHIRIKOV / POOL / AFP)

Egypt is the world’s second-biggest beneficiary of US military aid after Israel, raking in around $55bn since 1979 in reward for making peace with Israel and acting as a key counter-terrorism partner in a volatile region.

That support is now in jeopardy after the leak of US intelligence documents that detail purported orders from President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi that military officials covertly produce up to 40,000 rockets, artillery rounds and gunpowder for Russia, which is running low on ammunition in its invasion of Ukraine.

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