At the time, Russian media said the two sides were close to signing a $3-billion (then 2.2 billion euros) deal for Moscow to supply missiles and warplanes including MiG-29 fighters and attack helicopters.
However in recent months Washington has warmed to Cairo again and resumed its annual $1.5 billion in aid to Egypt, also delivering Apache helicopter gunships to fight jihadists in Sinai.
Ties between Egypt and the United States still remain far from what they were before Morsi’s ouster, with Washington criticising Sisi’s regime for repressing Islamist as well as secular dissent.
“Putin continues to take advantage of ambiguity and contradictions in Western policies toward the Middle East,” said Anna Borshchevskaya of The Washington Institute For Near East Policy.
As long as Washington criticises “Egypt’s democratic backslide… it keeps open the door for Putin… to gain influence in Egypt at the expense of US interests,” said the expert on Moscow’s policy towards the Middle East.
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