The Pentagon and the State Department threatened Egypt with sanctions for concluding a contract with Russia for the supply of Su-35 fighters to Cairo, media reported. The departments themselves refused to comment on this but recalled that Washington is against transactions with Russia in the field of intelligence or defence. Information that Moscow signed such a contract with Cairo appeared in the middle of March in the media, but it was soon denied.









The Pentagon and the State Department did not comment on media reports that the United States threatened Egypt with the possible negative consequences of Cairo's acquisition of Russian Su-35 fighters, TASS reported.

The Ministry of Defense has asked to ask questions about sanctions or the possibility of their introduction to the State Department. But the foreign ministry also declined to comment on this information. At the same time, diplomats once again recalled that Washington calls on its allies and partners to abandon transactions with Russia in the field of intelligence or defence, which could lead to sanctions under the CAATSA law ("On Countering US Adversaries Through Sanctions").



So the US authorities reacted to information previously published by The Wall Street Journal that the Pentagon and the Department of State sent a joint letter to the Egyptian authorities warning them of the danger of sanctions in the event of the acquisition of Russian Su-35 fighters.





“A new major deal with Russia will at least complicate the future exchange of military information with the United States and American military assistance to Egypt,” the publication cites a fragment of the letter that was at its disposal.





According to the publication, Pentagon officials personally warned the head of the Egyptian Air Force about the undesirable consequences of the deal. An unnamed State Department spokesman said the deal to buy Russian fighter jets could result in Washington imposing sanctions on Cairo, media reported. Sources of the newspaper reported that this transaction was carried out at the end of last year. Within its framework, it is planned to supply more than two dozen aircraft in the amount of $ 2 billion. They should begin in 2020–2021.





As noted in the publication, the signal from Washington coincided with a visit to Cairo by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

In late June, the head of the military department said that Russia was ready to assist Egypt in strengthening security and maintaining stability. “The Russian Ministry of Defense is ready to continue to assist Egyptian partners in strengthening the country's defence and security and maintaining stability in the Middle East and North Africa,” Shoigu said at a meeting of the heads of defense and diplomatic departments of Russia and Egypt in the “2 + 2” format in Moscow.







Despite the fact that many countries of the region are still overcoming the crisis of the “Arab spring”, the economic and social situation in Egypt remains stable, the Russian minister said.

In mid-March, the Kommersant newspaper, citing two top managers of defence industry enterprises, reported that Moscow had signed a contract with Cairo for the supply of several dozen heavy multi-functional fighters of the Su-35 generation 4.

The interlocutors of the publication did not specify exactly how many fighters would go to Egypt under the contract but noted that there would be “more than two dozen vehicles” and about $ 2 billion of aviation weapons for them. According to journalists, the agreement entered into force at the end of 2018. and deliveries will begin in 2020–2021. Sources also declined to disclose the value of the contract. According to them, such cooperation with Egypt "guarantees the utilization of the capacities of the machine manufacturer - Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant - for several years to come."

But after some time, the head of Rosoboronexport, Sergey Kornev, said that Russia and Egypt did not sign a contract for the supply of Cairo Su-35. At the same time, he noted that Moscow is ready to supply weapons to this state. “In the future, we would be interested with Egypt and other partners to cooperate on the entire aviation spectrum, including the supply of Su-35,” he said.

Egypt is one of the largest importers of Russian weapons. At the end of 2017, he ranked first among other African countries with a procurement volume of $ 6.2 billion.

Cairo began to actively engage in the rearmament of the army after Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi came to power during a coup in 2013, having ousted Mohammed Mursi. Egypt already receives from Russia various air defence systems, artillery, small arms, as well as MiG-29M / M2 fighters and Ka-52 combat helicopters.













