The United States government has threatened Egypt with sanctions and warned of blocking it from future military sales over its decision to purchase Russian warplanes, a U.S. official said on Monday, reported Reuters. The warning follows a $2 billion deal signed between Egypt and Russia to buy more than 20 Su-35 fighter jets.
“It puts them at risk of sanctions and it puts them at risk of loss of future acquisitions,” R. Clarke Cooper, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, told reporters at the Dubai Airshow. “It’s not a new thing. Cairo is clearly aware of this. It’s not news.”
The U.S. Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) targets purchases of military equipment from Russia.
Notably, Washington has provided billions of dollars in economic and military aid to Egypt, a longtime ally whose military operates the F-16 fighter jet, over the years. It is expected that Egypt’s new arms deal with Russia would “complicate” US defence transactions and security assistance to Egypt.
Cooper said If Egypt’s decision to use the Su-35 or other Russian weapons systems could pose a threat to its ability to operate jointly with the US militaries and other NATO countries.
Washington pulled US-ally and NATO member Turkey from the F-35 warplane programme this year after Ankara went ahead with a deal for the Russian S-400 air defence system. The U.S. government even banned the sale of US F-35 jets to Ankara.
However, President Donald Trump has stopped short of imposing sanctions on Turkey under CAATSA.
Cooper said last week President Trump told Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan that for Ankara and Washington to maintain a stable relationship, the system would either need to be destroyed, compartmentalized or returned to Russia.
“Turkey still remains in the cold on the F-35 programme,” he said.
Some of the other U.S allies in the region including Saudi Arabia and Qatar have both shown interest in the S-400, while the United Arab Emirates has signed an outline agreement for the Su-35 back in 2017.
