Egyptian President Abdul-Fattah Khalil el-Sisi in February of this year ordered the production of about 40,000 missiles to be delivered to Russia, the Washington Post reports , citing leaked US intelligence documents.
Egypt is one of the closest US allies in the Middle East. The country receives large amounts of American financial and military assistance.
The document, which is dated February 17, 2023, describes a conversation that took place between Al-Sisi and the leadership of the Egyptian army. In addition, the secret report reports on Egypt's plans to supply artillery shells and gunpowder to Russia. It is noted that Al-Sisi ordered to keep the production and supply of weapons secret in order to "avoid problems with the West."
Ahmed Abu Zeid, a spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, told the Washington Post that Egypt "has been following a policy of non-intervention since the beginning of the crisis [in Ukraine]," "trying to distance itself equally from both sides" and urging them to "cease fire and achieve political agreement through negotiations.
A source in the US government, who wished to remain anonymous, said that America does not yet have information that Egypt's plan to manufacture and supply weapons to Russia has begun to be implemented.
Earlier, the United States publicly spoke about Russia's arms purchases from Iran and North Korea. This was stated in January 2023 by US Permanent Representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield. According to her, North Korea is supplying missiles and rockets to the Wagner PMC group. Iran is supplying drones to Russia, which was officially acknowledged by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian. The country is also suspected of supplying ammunition and other military goods.
Secret documents regarding the war in Ukraine, which the Washington Post refers to, leaked to the Internet in early March and circulated on public online platforms for some time, until they were noticed by journalists.