Is Russia back in the game?

Over the last 40 years, Egypt has tried to keep good relations with Russia. However, these relations were not able to develop into strategic cooperation similar to what they enjoyed before the 1970s.
But a recent visit by two top Russian officials to Egypt implied a new shift not only in the Russian-Egyptian relations but also in the Egyptian foreign policy as a whole.
On Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov paid a visit to Cairo, where they met with Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour, Defense Minister Abdel Fattah El-Sissi and Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy.
During their meetings, both sides discussed boosting political and military cooperation between the two countries. The timing of the visit was really significant as it came when a traditional ally, the United States, withheld the delivery of some military aid to Egypt.
US-Egyptian relations have soured lately over Washington’s criticism of the ouster of former Egyptian President Muhammed Mursi on July 3.
Washington froze a large chunk of about $1.5 billion in annual military aid to Egypt, which covers the delivery of tanks, helicopters and fighter jets.
“The visit is just a warming-up for the relations with Russia and no concrete results will appear before several months,” said Hany Khalaf, former assistant foreign minister.
Khalaf said that both sides have given green lights for their officials to sit together and put concrete projects to be implemented. He said the visit can offer the interim Egyptian government a great service as it will assure Egyptians of the capability of their government to hold talks with big powers like Russia.
“And I expect similar visits and talks with China to happen soon,” Khalaf told Xinhua.
During their meetings, Egyptian and Russian officials agreed to form technical committees that will meet to prepare for a higher joint committee that will convene early next year.
Egypt was one of Moscow’s closest Arab allies for two decades, starting in the 1950s, under Egypt’s late nationalist leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser, but relations between the two countries froze in the 1970s when former President Anwar El-Sadat shifted Egypt’s foreign policy and military alignment toward the United States soon after the 1973 Egyptian war with Israel and the signing of a peace treaty in 1979.
Osama El-Dalil, political analyst at Al-Ahram El-Araby Magazine said that the visit showed the determination of both sides to build real strategic cooperation they failed to achieve over the last 40 years.
“For the last four decades, Egypt’s alliance with the US has prevented it from developing strategic relations with other powers such as Russia, but today Cairo is not going to repeat the same mistake as it now vies for real partnership relations,” said El-Dalil.
El-Dalil expected that the Egyptian rapprochement with Russia would raise concerns of the United States and make it to review its policies to Egypt.
“Russia also vies to make balance for powers in this region. They will also look for investment chances especially after losing their investment in Libya,” El-Dalil told Xinhua.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy met with Lavrov, talking about political, economic and trade ties, bilateral relations, regional issues, UN reform and the Egyptian initiative on rendering the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction.
At a joint press conference following the meeting, Fahmy stressed the importance of Russia in the international arena while tackling Middle East issues.
Lavrov echoed Fahmy’s comments by saying that Egypt is an essential partner for Russia in the Middle East and Russia looks for a “stable Egypt with strong economy.” “Russia respects Egypt and won’t interfere in its internal affairs,” the Russian foreign minister added.
Gamal Salama, professor of political science at Suez Canal University, sees the visit of top Russian officials as significant as it sent a clear message to the world that Russia is taking side of the Egyptian people, which may relieve some of the pressure on the interim government.
“Today Egypt wants to build balanced relations but not replace an ally with another,” said Salama, who also expects improvement in the Egyptian relations with the United States soon.
At the press conference in Cairo, Lavrov denied that Russia was striving to replace any country as Egypt’s key strategic partner, while Egyptian foreign minister confirmed that his country is not looking for a substitute for anyone.

Courtesy: Xinhua News Agency