Russian Ministers Talk Arms Sales in Landmark Egypt Visit

Egypt and Russia's defense ministers have discussed military collaboration between their countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday during a landmark visit to Cairo.

Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu led a high-level delegation on a visit that came in the wake of a diplomatic spat between Egypt and long-time ally the United States triggered by the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.

Shoigu and "his counterpart (General Abdel Fattah al-) Sisi talked on military collaboration" between the two nations, Lavrov told a Cairo news conference, without elaborating.

Last week, Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said the discussions would touch on "military and technical cooperation" -- a Russian euphemism for arms sales -- as well as political and economic ties.

Sisi, who is both defense minister and army chief, led a military ouster of Morsi in July, after which he installed an interim government and promised elections.

Lavrov told the news conference with Egyptian counterpart Nabil Fahmy that talks had also touched on boosting economic and trade ties.

For his part, Fahmy said "bilateral ties between Russia and Egypt are old, in particular in military areas, and this was discussed by the Russian defense minister with his Egyptian counterpart yesterday."

The talks were conducted as a Russian warship docked at an Egyptian base on the Red Sea, army sources said, adding that it was the second such vessel to arrive this week.

The unofficial visit was aimed at "strengthening links between the navies of the two countries," they said.

Lavrov declined to be drawn into commenting on political developments in Egypt, where the new government has launched a massive crackdown on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and put most of its leaders, including Morsi, on trial.

"Russia is against any foreign intervention in internal affairs and we respect Egypt's sovereignty and the rights of Egyptian people to determine their future," he said.

Before ending their visit, the Russians also held talks with interim president Adly Mansour in which Lavrov offered "the support of Russia to the people of Egypt during this difficult transitional period," state news agency MENA reported.

Egypt had close ties with Russia before then president Anwar Sadat made peace with Israel in 1979, bringing in roughly $1.3 billion in yearly U.S. military aid over the subsequent decades.

Diplomatic ties between Egypt and the United States soured after Washington suspended some of its military aid to Cairo after Morsi's ouster.

Since then, Egypt has taken a more "independent" tack and broadened its foreign policy, Fahmy told Agence France Presse on Saturday.

No fundamental shift

Analysts said Egypt's strategy to reach out to Russia was a "smart move" but it would not lead to any fundamental change in the near term.

"Egypt's weapons system is entirely U.S. supplied. We must understand that there won't be a fundamental shift in Egypt's military machinery as you can't have Russian arms operating on U.S. weapons systems," said Shadi Hamid, research director at Brookings Doha Center.

"A fundamental shift from U.S. weapons systems to Russian systems will take a long time and there is no indication that this is planned. The U.S. will still remain the prime provider (of arms) to Egypt's military," he told AFP.

In a move that angered Cairo, Washington said in October it was "recalibrating" its aid to Egypt and suspending the delivery of Apache helicopters, F-16 aircraft, M1A1 Abrams tank parts and Harpoon missiles.

President Barack Obama has led US calls for Egypt to rein in the bloodshed that erupted across the country and mainly in Cairo after Morsi's ouster.

More than 1,000 people have been killed across Egypt in clashes between pro-Morsi supporters and security forces.

Thousands have been arrested, mostly Islamists, including the Brotherhood's top leadership.

US Secretary of State John Kerry attempted to rekindle warmer relations between the two countries during a visit to Egypt this month -- his first since Morsi's ouster.

"We are committed to work with and we will continue our cooperation with the interim government," Kerry said in Cairo.

His visit "left better sentiments here in Egypt," Fahmy said on Saturday, while adding that not everything had been resolved.