Pak Sahafat – News sources reported that Egypt has resisted the American pressure to send weapons to Ukraine and has not yet responded positively to this request.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency’s report from Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed website, The Wall Street Journal reported that Egyptian officials have ignored repeated requests from the United States in recent months to produce artillery shells and other weapons needed for Kiev’s counterattack against Russian forces.
The Wall Street Journal report published on Friday evening quoted these officials as saying that Egypt initially planned to send missiles to Russia, but this plan was canceled earlier this year due to pressure from the United States.
According to this report, US officials, including Defense Minister Lloyd Austin, have asked Egypt to help Ukrainian forces overcome the lack of ammunition instead of sending weapons to Russia.
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According to this newspaper, Austin made this request in March during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo.
Other senior US officials have since raised the issue in multiple meetings in an effort to help Ukraine overcome its munitions shortage during its counteroffensive against Russia.
The newspaper quoted an American official and reported that Washington has asked Egypt to provide artillery shells, anti-tank missiles, air defense systems and light weapons to Ukraine.
Therefore, according to the report, Egypt did not completely reject these requests in a conversation with American officials, but Egyptian officials said in private circles that Cairo has no plans to send these weapons.
A senior official of the US State Department stated that Egypt is an important partner and said: These are not simple and quick issues, and our discussions with our Egyptian partners about our common interests in ending the Russian war are fruitful and continuous.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the spokesperson of the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to this newspaper’s request for comment.