Egypt planned to covertly send 40,000 rockets to Russia: report

Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi hatched a plan together with his high aides to supply and ship as much as 40,000 rockets to Russia, which has depleted its provide of ammunition through the 13-month invasion of Ukraine, in keeping with leaked U.S. intelligence paperwork obtained by the Washington Put up. 

The highest secret paperwork are a part of a trove of labeled materials that has been leaked on numerous social media websites in latest months. 

Nationwide Safety Council spokesperson John Kirby declined to verify the validity of the paperwork Monday, however warned media that the fabric is just not for public consumption. 

If the paperwork regarding Egypt are true, it might upend America’s relationship with one in all its closest allies in the Middle East and North Africa. 

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Nov. 11, 2022.  (The Egyptian Presidency/Handout by way of REUTERS, File)

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with el-Sisi in late January in Cairo, the place Blinken “expressed america’ solidarity with Egypt because it contends with the financial impression of Russia’s brutal warfare in Ukraine,” in keeping with the State Division. 

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President Biden additionally traveled to Egypt final November and met with el-Sisi, and recommended the Egyptian president for his nation’s stance on the warfare. 

“Within the face of Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, Egypt has spoken up strongly on the United Nations, and that’s appreciated very a lot as properly,” Biden mentioned on the time. 

One of many paperwork, which is dated Feb. 17, says el-Sisi instructed his senior navy officers to produce Russia with rockets, artillery rounds, and gunpowder, however to maintain the plans secret so as “to keep away from issues with the West,” in keeping with the Washington Post. 

Rescuers work on the website of a maternity ward of a hospital destroyed by a Russian missile assault in Vilniansk, Zaporizhzhia area, Ukraine, Nov. 23, 2022.  (REUTERS/Stringer, File)

An official recognized by the newspaper as Mohamed Salah al-Din, the minister of state for navy manufacturing, instructed the Egyptian president that he would “order his folks to work shift work if essential as a result of it was the least Egypt might do to repay Russia for unspecified assist earlier.” 

The character of that assistance is unclear, Egypt elevated its reliance on Russian wheat final 12 months amid disruptions to the worldwide market stemming from Russia’s war in Ukraine, in keeping with knowledge reviewed by Reuters. 

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The Egyptian embassy within the U.S. didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Monday. 

A Pentagon spokesperson referred Fox Information Digital to a press briefing Monday by the Assistant to the Secretary of Protection for Public Affairs, Chris Meagher, who mentioned that an interagency process power is reviewing the leaks and the Justice Division has opened a legal probe. 

These photos present Ukrainian firefighters tackling a blaze at an industrial gas storage firm in Lutsk, Ukraine, following a Russian missile strike on the ability. (REUTERS, File)

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Russia, in the meantime, has turned to North Korea, Iran, and different U.S. adversaries to replenish its provide of weapons amid the warfare. 

Kirby, the White Home nationwide safety spokesperson, mentioned final month that Russia is trading food to North Korea in trade for much-needed weapons.