Putin and Sissi hold talks to expand military cooperation

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Egypt's capital, Cairo, to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi who headed a bloody military coup on July 2013 that overthrew Egypt's first democratically elected President Mohammad Morsi.

Putin, who was one of the main backers of Sissi during the coup, presented Sissi with a Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle. After arriving in Cairo late on Monday, Putin attended a cultural show at Cairo's opera house with Sissi. In an interview with Egypt's government-controlled al-Ahram newspaper, the Russian leader hailed their "dynamic" bilateral relations, saying that trade between them had increased by almost 50 percent in 2014 compared with the year before.

Putin also suggested the two countries would discuss ending the use of the US dollar in bilateral trade, switching to national currencies instead. Sissi meanwhile praised his counterpart's visit in an interview with Russian state-owned newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta. "In recent months special value has been attached to the position adopted by President Putin, who supports Egypt in matters relating to the fight against terrorism and is aware of the real situation in our country. It is on such understanding that our relations need to be built," he said.

Russia wants to benefit from Egypt's need in weapons as the U.S. suspended the military aid after the government continued violating human rights since the coup. At least 1,400 Morsi supporters were killed in clashes, more than 16,000 were detained and hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members were sentenced to death and life prison.

Sissi himself visited Russia soon after ousting Morsi as a defense minister amid deteriorating relations with Washington, and followed it up with another trip in August 2014 as president. At their meeting last summer at Putin's summer residence in Sochi, the two discussed Russia supplying weapons to Egypt, which is fighting an insurgency on the Sinai Peninsula that has killed scores of policemen and soldiers. Moscow has aimed to grab a larger slice of the Egyptian arms market after Washington suspended some weapons deliveries.

Cairo also hosted the Russian defense and foreign ministers in November, the first such visit since the Soviet era, for discussions on an Egyptian arms purchase plan. 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 militants in Sinai.