The United States threatened Egypt with sanctions pressure in connection with the country’s plans to buy a batch of Su-35 fighters from Russia. This was announced in a telephone call to Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukhri by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Al Jazeera reports.
As the experts of the publication explained, Cairo has agreed with Moscow to diversify the sources of its weapons. However, the deal could be frozen under pressure from Washington: Egypt is now a partner of the United States and receives $ 1.3 billion in military aid annually from it. Under the threat of losing these funds, the Egyptian authorities may abandon Russian fighters.
Previously, the US State Department’s concerns about a possible deal between Russia and Egypt were reported in February 2021.
In March 2019, Kommersant, citing sources, said that Russia and Egypt had signed an agreement on the supply of Su-35 fighters to Cairo for two billion dollars. Subsequently, the United States has repeatedly put pressure on Egypt in connection with the proposed purchase and demanded that it abandon it.
Su-35 is a 4 ++ generation multifunctional fighter. The last combat aircraft built on the basis of the T-10S platform, which became the basis for the Su-27 / Su-30 family fighters and their modifications.