Relations between the nations of Egypt and Russia are complex and have seen dramatic growth over the years. In this article, we’ll explore how this diplomatic relationship has evolved, and how it will continue to change in the near future.
Early Beginnings
Russia and Egypt's history is rooted in Russian Orthodoxy and its support of the Greek Orthodox Church in Alexandria. Reports date back as far as 1556, detailing requests sent to the Russian Tsar for assistance following damage to the church at the hands of the Turkish empire. Russia provided support for Egyptian Christians for many centuries, establishing firm bonds of friendship between the nation’s two churches.
Later Diplomatic Relations
Egypt and Russia first established diplomatic relations as we know them today during the 1940s when Russia was still part of the Soviet Union. On August 23rd, 1943, Egypt and Russia began to negotiate, with Egypt already establishing an embassy in Moscow and Russia an embassy of its own in Cairo. During the 1950s, relations between the two nations deepened and the president of Egypt was granted the highest Soviet decoration, the Order of Lenin. This newfound closeness between the countries led many Egyptians to study at Russian universities.
However, the good relationship was not to last following the death of the then-president and election of another. It would take until the 1970s for a friendship treaty to be signed between Russia and Egypt - though relations remained frosty until the fall of the Soviet Union.
Modern Day Relations
The fall of communism and later, the election of Vladimir Putin to the Russian presidency was well-received by Egypt. The two nations agreed to a nuclear program to benefit both nations and organized diplomatic visits between them. Since the 2013 military coup which removed then-President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, trade and military ties have been strengthened further.
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In 2018, they are considered close allies with many common interests - the culmination of centuries of connections. Putin was one of the early supporters of his fellow Egyptian autocrat even before Sisi officially became president.
On December 9, 2021, Russia and Egypt launched a joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Alexandria. The Russian navy deployed the frigate Admiral Grigorovich, a mainstay of its Mediterranean Squadron, part of the Black Sea Fleet, along with a patrol ship and a rescue boat. Egypt contributed a frigate, two corvettes, and a support vessel. Coming in the wake of a new cooperation protocol signed by the two countries’ defense ministers back in August, the drill highlights Moscow and Egypt’s ever closer relations.
In the aftermath, the Russian defense industrial complex found a lucrative market. In 2018, for instance, Egypt started procuring 31 Su-35 fighter jets, a transaction worth $2 bn. Last but not least, Russia and Egypt are bound together by robust economic ties. By the early 2010s, Red Sea resorts of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh attracted around 3 million tourists annually from the Russian Federation-about a third of all foreign tourists visiting Egypt. Numbers went down after a Russian charter flight was downed by a terrorist attack in 2015 and, more recently, due to COVID-19. Egypt has also emerged as a top destination for Russia’s booming wheat exports. About one-third of wheat coming to Egypt (which desperately relies on wheat imports to offset shortages) originates from the Russian Federation.
On November 28, 2015, Egypt and Russia signed a deal which would allow Russian and Egyptian warplanes to use each other's airbases and airspace. Both countries could be described as "close allies" as Putin usually referred to Sisi as a "Trusted and Close Partner." On 11 December 2017, during President Vladimir Putin's visit to Cairo, the two countries signed agreements in which Russia would build Egypt's first nuclear reactor, and supply nuclear fuel for the same. Russia has supported the Syrian government in the Syrian civil war, and intervened militarily in its favor in 2015. Egypt voted in favor of the United Nations resolution condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and calling for a withdrawal of Russia's forces from the country. However, President Sisi called President Putin on March 9 to clarify Egypt's vote and both countries said they would keep working together to develop their strategic partnership. Egypt has rejected economic sanctions against Russia.
For Russia, Egypt remains a key player in the Middle East and North Africa. Russia has always seen Egypt as a major regional player in the Middle East and North Africa. Building a partnership with Cairo has been a comparatively easy endeavor. In contrast to Iran or Turkey, Egypt lies far away from the post-Soviet space and therefore has no conflictual interests with Moscow. And unlike Saudi Arabia, it has not been implicated in the spread of Salafism in Muslim-populated areas of the Russian Federation. Russian diplomacy has shown flexibility and built bridges to all of the above powers, setting aside conflicts and focusing on overlapping interests. Engaging the Egyptian regime has completed the puzzle.
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Egypt likewise looks at Russia as a desirable partner-part of it is ideological convergence. Back in the early 2010s, the Kremlin was highly critical of the Arab Spring, warning against the threat it posed to domestic and regional stability. It furthermore raised alarm about the rise of “radicalized political Islam” a challenge it confronted in the Northern Caucasus as well as in its Central Asian backyard. This is very much in tune with the narrative of the Sisi regime. Even though Moscow engaged with Muhammad Morsi, welcoming him on a state visit in April 2013, his ouster in al-Sisi found much greater support in Russia than in the West after the takeover in July the same year. In September 2014, Egypt and Russia sealed a $3.5 bn deal for the purchase of MiG-29M2 fighter jets, Ka-52 helicopters and Antey-2500 anti-ballistic missile systems. At the time, the Obama administration had frozen some transfers of equipment to Cairo while the EU had imposed an arms embargo.
Russia therefore not only helped al-Sisi in resisting outside pressure, but also sided with his effort to bring Egypt back into Middle Eastern power politics. Russia and Egypt have found themselves on the same side in the conflict in Libya. They both threw their weight behind Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) and the House of Representatives based in the east of the fragmented country. Since the latter’s failure, both Egypt and Russia have distanced themselves from Haftar and engaged with the Government of National Unity formed as a result of UN-led dialogue.
The Soviet Union leveraged Egypt as a strategic entry point into the region, capitalizing on Egypt’s need to cover the military and developmental aid denied by the West in times of regime crises. Years later, Russia adopted this approach once again, using Egypt as a key foothold in the Middle East and North Africa. Between 1955 and 1967, military and economic ties between Moscow and Cairo rose against the backdrop of ongoing tensions between Egypt and the United States. After Washington turned down Cairo’s request for military and economic aid in 1955, Egypt turned to the Soviet Union and secured a major arms deal with Czechoslovakia and developmental aid from the Eastern Bloc.
Similarly, in 2014, when Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi assumed power and faced a deterioration in Egyptian-American bilateral relations, Cairo once again leaned on Moscow for military and developmental aid and intensified their collaboration in an unmatched manner since former presidents, Anwar al-Sadat and Hosni Mubarak firmly placed Egypt as a strategic ally of the United States.
Currently, Russia employs a comparable tactic of filling Western vacuums to make inroads in the Middle East and North Africa, particularly with respect to Egypt. Likewise, facing internal economic difficulties and rocky relations with the United States, Egypt has leveraged support from Russia to accomplish its own goals. Since 2014, current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has allowed Russia to position itself as an alternative source of economic and military collaboration; the approach fits right into his strategy of balancing Egypt’s relationships with Russia and the West.
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In 2014, when Sisi visited Russia for the first time in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised that his country would increase bilateral trade, especially with regard to agricultural products. Through promoting other relationships in addition to its collaboration with the United States and European countries, Egypt began to develop closer relations with Russia and China.
Egypt has pivoted toward Russia to diversify its foreign military aid sources, actively broadening its military alliances beyond the established partnership with the United States, albeit to a limited degree. Sisi’s ambition to further military capabilities propelled Egypt to become the third-largest arms importer between 2017 and 2021. Between 2016 and 2021, Russia replaced the United States as the largest arms exporter to Egypt, reaching a peak in 2017. The orders included, for example, surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, anti-ship missiles, and combat aircraft. The Egyptian ambition to procure Russia’s most advanced combat jetfighter, the Su-35, was a thorny issue between Egypt and the United States up until the procurement came to a halt.
Evidently, Egypt leverages its relationship with Russia whenever suitable and without risking a protracted crisis with the United States and European countries. Concurrently, Russia harnesses its relationship with Egypt, the region’s most populous country, to regain and reinforce its influence in the Middle East and North Africa. And in doing so, Russia has challenged the established influence of the United States. Military cooperation and aid have been traditional Russian tools in this regard.
The Comprehensive Partnership and Strategic Cooperation Agreement signed between Egypt and Russia in 2018 came into force on January 10, 2021. The agreement is the cornerstone for strengthening the partnership between the two countries, bringing it to an unprecedented strategic level. It represents a framework that ensures the continued development of cooperation between Cairo and Moscow in the political, security, economic, technical and cultural fields in a way that serves their mutual interests.
The Egyptian and Russian approaches to combating terrorism coincide. The lists of banned terrorist organizations are almost identical in the two countries. Cairo and Moscow see eliminating ISIS and other terrorist organizations in the region as the main and most important challenge. Moscow has supported the measures taken by the Egyptian government to wipe out terrorism and organized crime in the Sinai Peninsula. This opens possibilities for broad security and intelligence cooperation, including exchanging information about terrorists and their displacement from Syria toward Egypt, Libya and other neighboring countries.
Trade is considered a pillar of the bilateral partnership given the structural integration of the two countries' economies. Russia is an important market for Egyptian consumer goods, especially clothes, cotton, shoes, leather products, medicines, marble and ceramics, citrus fruit and furniture. At the same time, Russia supplies Egypt with about 70% of its wheat needs. The two countries are cooperating to establish a global logistics center for storing and trading grains at the port of Damietta on the Mediterranean Sea, with a capacity of 7.5 million tons. Over time, this is expected to become part of the regional corridor Russia-Middle East-Africa. On January 1, 2024, Egypt became a member of BRICS.
Key Agreements and Events
The relationship between Egypt and Russia has been marked by several significant agreements and events. Here's a summary:
| Date | Event | Description |
|---|---|---|
| August 23, 1943 | Establishment of Diplomatic Relations | Egypt and Russia established diplomatic relations, with embassies in Moscow and Cairo. |
| 1950s | Deepening of Relations | Egypt's president was awarded the Order of Lenin, and many Egyptians studied at Russian universities. |
| September 2014 | Arms Deal | Egypt and Russia signed a $3.5 billion deal for MiG-29M2 fighter jets, Ka-52 helicopters, and Antey-2500 anti-ballistic missile systems. |
| November 28, 2015 | Airspace Agreement | Egypt and Russia signed a deal allowing their warplanes to use each other's airbases and airspace. |
| December 11, 2017 | Nuclear Agreements | Russia agreed to build Egypt's first nuclear reactor and supply nuclear fuel. |
| January 10, 2021 | Strategic Cooperation Agreement | The Comprehensive Partnership and Strategic Cooperation Agreement between Egypt and Russia came into force. |
| January 1, 2024 | BRICS Membership | Egypt became a member of BRICS, enhancing economic cooperation. |
These milestones highlight the evolving and multifaceted nature of the relationship between Egypt and Russia, reflecting both shared interests and strategic considerations.
Mutual interests are the basis of the partnership between Egypt and Russia. The Russia-Ukraine war has imposed challenges on cooperation between Egypt and Russia, like Russia’s exit from the SWIFT system and sanctions, which have relatively slowed trade between the two countries and created difficulties for Russian tourism to Egypt and Egyptian students in Russia as well - especially since Egypt has not yet put into action its decision regarding dealing in national currencies and activating the Russian card payment system Mir. Cairo seeks to maintain the stability of the partnership with Russia and continue it, as it serves Egyptian interests, enhances the country’s development potential, and boosts national security.
Against this backdrop, Egypt-Russia cooperation will move forward, especially economically and technologically. However, this does not mean complete alignment with Russia. Egyptian politics is characterized by neutrality and balance. That has been evident as Cairo has consolidated its strategic partnership with the US and EU alongside those with Russia and China.
Over the past 70 years, the relationship between Egypt and Russia has been shaped by shared interests and feelings of solidarity, as well as by perceived abandonment and mutual suspicion. The big other moment or milestone came in 1956, the very famous Suez War, as we call it in the Middle East, the Suez Crisis, as it is known in the West.
Some people say, well, the war in Syria ended, the Assad regime won, it has now entrenched its place, it has secured its authority over quite a substantial part of Syria, all of that is absolutely correct, but I always say to people who invoke that argument, that that all happened through partnerships with allies, primarily Russia, that guaranteed the success of the Assad regime, but bear in mind that the investments that Russia has done now in the eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Syria, are dramatic, which means that Russia is there to stay for a long time, certainly for the foreseeable future, and that Syria is strategically important for the Arab world and particularly for Egypt for many reasons.
Egypt and Russia sign mutual cooperation pact in Moscow
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