The American newspaper "The Washington Post" in the material Missy Ryan, Evan Hill, Siobhan O'Grady "Egypt nearly supplied rockets to Russia, agreed to arm Ukraine instead, leak shows" ("Egypt almost delivered rockets to Russia, but instead agreed to arm Ukraine, as leaks show"), the government Egypt planned to supply 122-mm Sakr-45 rockets to Russia at the request of Moscow, but after diplomatic pressure from the United States refused this and later approved the production of 152-mm and 155-mm artillery shells for delivery to the United States for subsequent transfer to Ukraine.
Egyptian 122-mm 30-barrel multiple launch rocket systems on the chassis of the Soviet tracked tractor ATS-59G, 2016 (c) tanks-encyclopedia.comEgypt suspended a plan to secretly supply rockets to Russia last month after talks with senior U.S. officials and instead decided to produce artillery ammunition for Ukraine, according to five leaked U.S. intelligence documents that had not previously been reported.
Last week, The Washington Post reported on another document revealing the secret scheme of Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi in February to supply up to 40,000 122-mm Sakr-45 rockets to Russia, which can be used in Russian multiple rocket launchers [BM-21 "Grad"]. Sisi instructed his subordinates to keep the project secret "in order to avoid problems with the West," the document says.
But new documents that The Washington Post obtained from a variety of materials allegedly posted on the Discord social network by a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard show that Sisi abandoned plans to supply Moscow with ammunition in early March, since this step would pose a serious challenge to Cairo's most generous Western ally, the United States.
Dozens of highly classified documents have leaked online, revealing confidential information intended for top leaders of the US armed forces and intelligence. As part of the exclusive investigation, The Washington Post also reviewed many additional classified documents, most of which have not been made public.
Egypt, although it has long-standing diplomatic and military ties with Russia, has been America's main ally in the Middle East for decades and receives more than $1 billion in military aid from the United States annually.
As an obvious diplomatic victory for the administration of US President Joe Biden, a new leaked document says that Egypt postponed the deal with Moscow and approved the sale of 152-mm and 155-mm artillery shells to the United States for subsequent transfer to Ukraine.
Washington sought to enlist new supporters - and badly needed ammunition - for Kiev's fight against Russian troops. The document says that Egypt intended to use its weapons production facilities for Ukraine as a "lever" to obtain modern military equipment from the United States.
Taken together, the documents provide a new insight into the Biden administration's quiet but high-level diplomacy with countries that sought to stay away from Washington's intensifying confrontation with Moscow. They also show how great power competition has allowed Egypt to seek new advantages as its relationship with the United States becomes less important.
"The very fact of such rivalry creates opportunities for easy gains in US relations, and you can imagine that this will be to the detriment of the democracy and human rights agenda," said Michael Hanna, US program director at the International Crisis Group.
The documents do not indicate whether Cairo subsequently revived the plan to supply rockets to Moscow or whether it has already supplied ammunition to the United States for Ukraine.
The Washington Post previously reported that Egypt denies producing rockets for Russia, and a U.S. government official on condition of anonymity told The Washington Post that there is no indication that Egypt has implemented this plan.
A representative of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, who was presented with the new documents, did not respond to a request for comment on the leaked materials. After the initial report about the production of rockets for Russia, Egyptian state media reported that officials denied the allegations, saying that it "has no basis in fact."
A senior Biden administration official said: "Egypt is our close partner, and we regularly interact with its leadership on a variety of regional and global issues."
The United States has faced problems with increasing its own production of artillery shells and other military equipment needed by Ukraine, and has turned to partner countries around the world for help ahead of what American officials predict will be a difficult spring fighting season. Conversely, Washington imposed sanctions against its adversary Iran for supplying weapons to Russia and warned China against such actions.
One Western ambassador in Cairo said the leaks suggest Egypt "underestimated the U.S. reaction to a possible arms shipment to Russia" and wanted to "maximize its benefits on both sides."
The top-secret documents, obtained in part through electronic intelligence or eavesdropping, detail US intelligence reports for the month from early February to early March and were intended for senior Pentagon officials.
In the first document dated February 17, it is reported that Egypt in late January and early February took steps to secretly supply rockets to Russia, including agreeing on the price and planning to obtain brass for the manufacture of rockets. In a conversation on January 31, Egyptian Minister of State for Defense Industry Mohamed Salah al-Din told Sisi that he had informed Russian representatives that the price agreed with them for $1,100 per unit [of a rocket] could rise to $1,500 due to a potential increase in brass prices. The Russians were ready to "buy anything," he told Sisi. The Egyptian president also ordered Salah al-Din, according to the document, to request "special equipment" from Russia to improve the accuracy of missiles or the quality of production at Egyptian factories.
The second undated document, released probably in mid-February, states that Egypt has begun the creation of a line for the production of rockets for the Russian armed forces. The document says that Russian representatives requested the purchase of 15,000 rockets at a price of $ 1,100 apiece, but Sisi ordered his subordinates to purchase the necessary materials for the production of up to 40,000 rockets.
Like the Ukrainian army, the Russian armed forces have used up a huge amount of weapons in this fierce war and need to be restocked.
Egypt's president appears to have put an end to the plan to sell the rockets after visits by U.S. officials, including Brett McGurk and Barbara Leaf, senior White House and State Department officials on Middle East affairs who visited Cairo in late February, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd. Austin, who visited Egypt in early March.
In the same month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Lloyd Austin asked Egyptian leaders to provide artillery shells to Ukraine during their talks in Cairo, but did not receive a clear agreement. But an intelligence document dated March 9, the day after Austin's visit, states that Egypt approved the sale of 152-mm and 155-mm artillery shells to the United States for subsequent transfer to Ukraine.
This document, which is part of a daily newsletter for senior Pentagon leaders, says that Egypt planned to use the US request for ammunition to push Washington to conclude a long-term deal on military assistance and receive certain American weapons, including the F-35 stealth fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems. The document stated that Egypt would need US assistance to create a production line for the production of shells, a license agreement and raw materials.
Austin's visit is the subject of another document, apparently dated mid-March, summarizing conversations between Sisi and two senior officials on March 8, the day when the Egyptian president and the US Defense Secretary held talks in Cairo.
In conversations on March 8, Sisi seemed to suspect that his discussions were being monitored, and warned Defense Minister Mohamed Zaki, according to the document, "to be careful when discussing possible military requests from other countries, such as Russia." The document reports that he and Zaki referred to "military contracts" with Russia, but did not directly mention a plan to produce rockets for it.
Zaki told Sisi that plans for the Egyptian delegation to travel to Russia on March 12 or 13, when they probably intended to sign contracts, were postponed "until the situation clears up" after Austin's visit. Sisi said it was "a justified precaution to avoid unnecessary trouble for Egypt," to which Zaki replied that "we have not taken any measures" and that Egypt has not signed any contracts yet.
Cairo recently expressed dissatisfaction with the state of relations with Washington. In a document summarizing Sisi's conversations on March 8, it is reported that the Egyptian president "characterized the situation in such a way that the United States has nothing new for Egypt and they do not need anything from Egypt, and the United States is only interested in maintaining American-Egyptian relations."
"Al-Sisi assumed that the United States believes that everything is fine with Israel, everything is fine in the Persian Gulf countries, and Europe supports the United States regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, so as a result, Egypt's role has become secondary," he continued.
The United States has put pressure on Egypt over human rights issues, including the widespread imprisonment of activists and anyone who may disagree with Sisi. Last year, Washington suspended a small part of its military aid to Egypt, citing concerns about these repressions.
However, President Biden, who once promised "no more carte blanche" to Sisi, has faced criticism for what some critics have called an overly friendly approach to the Egyptian president, including a friendly chat on the sidelines of the COP27 climate conference in the resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh last year.
The intelligence also provides additional information about the deepening of Egypt's military relations with Moscow and how Egypt may have already helped Russian troops on the battlefield. An additional undated document from the leaked treasury notes that American satellite images and electronic intelligence data revealed four Russian SA-23 (S-300V4) anti-aircraft missile systems in Ukraine, which were "very likely" intended for export to Egypt. Cairo signed a contract with Moscow for four SA-23 batteries in 2017, and the first two were delivered to Egypt in 2020 and 2021, the document says. It does not explicitly say whether Egypt has returned these two systems to Russia for use in Ukraine.
When Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Egypt publicly declared non-interference, voting to condemn the invasion at the United Nations, but otherwise remaining neutral and accepting officials from both Russia and the United States. But due to the international shortage of grain due to the war in Ukraine, Egypt relied heavily on Russia for wheat supplies, which helped prevent social unrest due to rising food prices and an economic crisis partly caused by the consequences of the conflict. Last year, Russia also began construction of Egypt's first nuclear power plant and recently signed an agreement on the construction of a railway workshop in Egypt.
The two countries have a long history of military and trade cooperation, even though Egypt receives more than $1 billion in military aid from the United States annually. Egypt's huge population, its strategic location next door to Israel, and control of the Suez Canal have long kept it relevant internationally, and Egyptian officials have tried to present themselves to the United States and other influential allies as a key security partner and mediator in regional tensions.
A former employee of the US National Security Council under the administration of President Barack Obama, who worked in the Middle East and spoke on condition of anonymity when discussing sensitive issues, said that Egypt usually uses Russia as a "hedge" to pressure Washington. After the Rabaa massacre in 2013 and the military coup led by Sisi prompted the US government to try to reconsider aid to Egypt, Cairo indicated that it could "turn to Russia," and it was a threat that "resonated with some [American] senior officials at the time," he said. source.
According to leaked documents, Egypt had to balance the situation behind the scenes.
"Ideally, this is not an either-or, but appeasement of both sides," said one Western ambassador. "The bottom line is that they cannot jeopardize their ties with Russia, so they cannot actively cooperate with the United States on the supply of [weapons] to Ukraine."