US: Egypt Risks Sanctions with Possible Purchase of Russian Fighter Jets

The United States has warned Egypt that it could be sanctioned if Cairo goes ahead with the purchase of 20 Su-35 Russian fighter jets at an estimated cost of $2 billion. “It puts [the Egyptians] at risk of sanctions and it puts them at risk of loss of future [American military] acquisitions,” Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper said. Washington could impose economic penalties under its Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which targets purchases of Russian military equipment. The US is currently grappling with a similar situation with longtime ally Turkey, which recently acquired the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system. The system is not interoperable with NATO hardware and could jeopardize the safety of US F-35 stealth warplanes in the Middle East. During a meeting last week at the White House, President Donald Trump reportedly told his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that the bilateral relationship would be significantly hampered if Ankara deployed the S-400s. The US began providing military aid – currently estimated at $1.3 billion annually – to Egypt after the Americans successfully dislodged the Sunni Muslim world’s most populous and historically important nation from the Soviet Union’s orbit at the height of the Cold War. Other US allies have recently expressed interest in Russian-manufactured arms, and Russian President Vladimir Putin last month visited Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in a bid to bolster ties.