Top Russian officials in landmark visit to Egypt
Egypt was Moscow's closest Arab ally for two decades, starting in the 1950s.
CAIRO (AP) The foreign ministers of Egypt and Russia opened talks in Cairo on Thursday in what could herald a major shift in Egypt's foreign policy.
The talks between Nabil Fahmy and Sergei Lavrov came amid strains in Egypt's relationship with the United States, its main foreign backer and benefactor since the 1970s, over the overthrow in a military coup four months ago of an elected president, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi.
Egypt was Moscow's closest Arab ally for two decades, starting in the 1950s, with the Soviet Union throwing its weights behind the late nationalist leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser in his ambitious drive to modernize the Arab nation and create a well-armed military at the height of the Cold War and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
But in 1972, then-President Anwar Sadat threw out thousands of Soviet military advisers and realigned the country's foreign policy, taking his nation closer to the United States soon after the 1973 Mideast war. Also, Egypt's relations with the Soviet Union took a marked turn for the worse after Moscow's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.
The Russian delegation in Cairo is Moscow's highest-level visit in years. Russia's defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, is also in Cairo for talks with officials.
"We look forward to cooperation with Russia in multiple fields and that is because of Russia's significance in the international arena," Fahmy, the Egyptian foreign minister, said at a news conference after his talks with Lavrov.
"We look forward to strong, continuing and stable relations with Russa," he added. "We seek to energize a relation that is already in existence."
When asked whether Russia would replace the U.S. in his country's foreign policy, Fahmy said Egypt is not looking for a "substitute for anyone."
"Russia's weight is too big to be a substitute for anyone," he said.
Fahmy also said he, Lavrov, Shigu and Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Abdelk-Fattah el-Sissi would jointly meet later Thursday.
The United States last month froze a big chunk of its annual $1.3 billion military aid to Egypt.
The move angered the Egyptians and prompted speculations in the local media that Egypt intended to sign a multi-billion dollar arms deal with Russia. But there has so far been no official word from Cairo or Moscow on such a deal.
At the news conference, Lavrov said Russia stands to gain from the return of stability to Egypt, a reference to the turmoil roiling the country since the ouster in the 2011 uprising of staunch U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak.
