US: ‘No indication’ that Egypt manufactures weapons for Russia

The US yesterday announced that there is no evidence to suggest that Egypt is supplying lethal weapons to Russia after a leaked American document alleged that Cairo was secretly planning to supply missiles to Moscow.

According to the Washington Post, which quoted a “classified leaked US document” dated 17 February, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi planned to manufacture 40,000 missiles for Russia.

The document claimed that Al-Sisi directed officials in his country to keep the arms production and delivery process secret, to prevent any problems with Western countries.

“We’ve seen no indication that Egypt is providing lethal weaponry and capabilities to Russia,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

According to the American newspaper, the document is one of dozens of secret papers that were leaked over the past week, and it describes “alleged conversations between Al-Sisi and senior Egyptian military officials.” It also refers to plans to supply Russia with artillery shells and gunpowder.

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An “official Egyptian source” yesterday denied what was mentioned in the newspaper’s report, stressing that this was “absurd.”

On Friday, the American newspaper, the New York Times, revealed the leak of US army and NATO documents related to the Russian war in Ukraine.

The newspaper quoted an unnamed senior official in the US administration saying that the Pentagon is investigating reports of a security defect that led to the leaking of documents containing details of plans by the US military and NATO, about ways to help Ukraine launch a counterattack against Russian forces next spring.