Egypt reversed a plan to give rockets to Russia after talks with top US officials and instead offered to make artillery shells for Ukraine, according to leaked documents....CONTINUE READING
The documents reported by the Washington Post gave further detail about Egypt’s role, which was detailed in earlier leaks last week….CONTINUE READING
According to the classified documents that emerged last week, Cairo planned to produce up to 40,000 rockets for Moscow, and told its officials to keep the deal secret “to avoid problems with the West”.
The new documents suggested that Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, the Egyptian president, ditched the idea in early March.
Instead, Cairo decided to sell 155mm artillery shells, which were in short supply in the US, to Washington, which would then send them to Ukraine.
It reportedly put a stop to the alleged Moscow plan following visits to Cairo by senior US state department officials, and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, in late February and early March.
An intelligence assessment on March 9, the day after the defence secretary was in Cairo, showed Egypt had approved selling 155mm artillery shells to the US, the Washington Post reported.
The documents were among classified US intelligence files leaked on Discord, an app popular among gamers.
Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old national guardsman, has been charged with leaking secrets.
He faces two counts under the Espionage Act following the most damaging leak of US intelligence in a decade.
Egypt is the largest beneficiary of American military aid globally after Israel.
It has received over $1 billion of security assistance annually for decades.
Egypt has previously said that the suggestion it was planning to sell rockets to Mocow had “no basis in truth”.
Meanwhile, other documents emerged giving further detail about last week’s revelation that the US listened in on the conversations of United Nations Secretary General António Guterres.
They suggested the UN chief had been “really p—-d off” following a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky on March 8, the Washington Post reported.
He was said to have been unhappy about there being a surprise ceremony involving medals being given to soldiers.
The leaked document said Mr Guterres “made a point of not smiling the entire time” at the ceremony, the newspaper reported….CONTINUE READING
