Local media have composed a list of countries criticizing the U.S. for racism over unrest in Ferguson. The Wall Street Journal mentioned China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and Egypt, slamming them for the accusations. Relations of the U.S. with Egypt are not as good as they used to be.
Experts say that Russian-Egyptian cooperation has been intensifying, especially after the recent meetings between president Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi. The geopolitical situation in the region, lack of stability in neighbouring states and foreign threats encourage Moscow and Cairo to develop relations.
Vladimir Yevseyev, the head of the Caucasus section of the Institute of CIS Countries, a military expert, said that Russia should not limit itself to developing economic cooperation with Egypt alone. He is steadfast that “Russia is getting a real sector of military and technical cooperation in Egypt now.”
Concerning the main security threats of Egypt, Yevseyev points out Libya and Israel. “At the moment, the destabilization process in Libya continues. There are fights, mainly for the international airport,” notes Yevseyev. He supposes that Egypt cannot feel safe or relocate its forces in such conditions.
At the same time, Egypt is worried about Israel’s nuclear potential. “Israel has a full-fledged triad including ground-based Jericho-type missiles, air based and naval-based missiles. The naval-based [missiles] are placed on submarines that could secretly be deployed on the coast and have enough range, about 1000km, in other words, covering almost all of Egyptian territory,” believes Yevseyev.
The military expert has no doubts that it is very important for Egypt to raise the issue of IAEA’s control over the nuclear potential of Israel at different international platforms. First of all, this regards the NPT conference that will start in May 2015. “It is the Egyptian state that is most persistent in forming a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East,” says Yevseyev, adding that a conference on the issue has never been held because of U.S. blocks.
Egypt is not only under pressure of the war in the Gaza Strip, it is also affected by events in Syria. “Why are militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant getting more active? Because they got hold of American weapons. Again, Americans have created conditions allowing militants to kill the peaceful population. We can say that it turned out that the military was not properly prepared, but the fact remains,” assures Yevseyev.
In his words, another threat is possible independence of Iraqi Kurdistan. “It will explode all neighbouring states. We can mention Sudan, other countries, but Egypt in general is in an extremely turbulent atmosphere at the moment. In these conditions, it is exceptionally important for Egypt to have enough weapons.”
Speaking about prospects for Russian-Egyptian military and technical cooperation, Vladimir Yevseyev emphasizes that Egypt has the biggest military potential among Arab states: “The mobilization reserve of Egypt is over 20 million people. It exceeds the population of many countries of the Arab world. It is important to understand that cooperation between Egypt and the U.S. will continue. Another problem is that no one wants to become a new Mubarak, including Al-Sisi.”
Vladimir Yevseyev: “No one wants to become the new Mubarak in Egypt”Local media have composed a list of countries criticizing the U.S. for racism over unrest in Ferguson. The Wall Street Journal mentioned China, Russia, Iran, Cuba and Egypt, slamming them for the accusations. Relations of the U.S. with Egypt are not as good as they used to be.Experts say that Russian-Egyptian cooperation has been intensifying, especially after the recent meetings between president Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi. The geopolitical situation in the region, lack of stability in neighbouring states and foreign threats encourage Moscow and Cairo to develop relations.Vladimir Yevseyev, the head of the Caucasus section of the Institute of CIS Countries, a military expert, said that Russia should not limit itself to developing economic cooperation with Egypt alone. He is steadfast that “Russia is getting a real sector of military and technical cooperation in Egypt now.”Concerning the main security threats of Egypt, Yevseyev points out Libya and Israel. “At the moment, the destabilization process in Libya continues. There are fights, mainly for the international airport,” notes Yevseyev. He supposes that Egypt cannot feel safe or relocate its forces in such conditions.At the same time, Egypt is worried about Israel’s nuclear potential. “Israel has a full-fledged triad including ground-based Jericho-type missiles, air based and naval-based missiles. The naval-based [missiles] are placed on submarines that could secretly be deployed on the coast and have enough range, about 1000km, in other words, covering almost all of Egyptian territory,” believes Yevseyev.The military expert has no doubts that it is very important for Egypt to raise the issue of IAEA’s control over the nuclear potential of Israel at different international platforms. First of all, this regards the NPT conference that will start in May 2015. “It is the Egyptian state that is most persistent in forming a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East,” says Yevseyev, adding that a conference on the issue has never been held because of U.S. blocks.Egypt is not only under pressure of the war in the Gaza Strip, it is also affected by events in Syria. “Why are militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant getting more active? Because they got hold of American weapons. Again, Americans have created conditions allowing militants to kill the peaceful population. We can say that it turned out that the military was not properly prepared, but the fact remains,” assures Yevseyev.In his words, another threat is possible independence of Iraqi Kurdistan. “It will explode all neighbouring states. We can mention Sudan, other countries, but Egypt in general is in an extremely turbulent atmosphere at the moment. In these conditions, it is exceptionally important for Egypt to have enough weapons.”Speaking about prospects for Russian-Egyptian military and technical cooperation, Vladimir Yevseyev emphasizes that Egypt has the biggest military potential among Arab states: “The mobilization reserve of Egypt is over 20 million people. It exceeds the population of many countries of the Arab world. It is important to understand that cooperation between Egypt and the U.S. will continue. Another problem is that no one wants to become a new Mubarak, including Al-Sis
