Russia Raises its Profile in The Middle East

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a highly successful day Tuesday, meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and emerging with an agreement for Russia to build a nuclear power plant in Egypt, a major step forward in Putin’s plans to renew Russia’s historic strategic alliance with Cairo. The two leaders also agreed “on further military cooperation between our two countries given the current circumstances” in Egypt, Sisi told reporters after the meeting. Continuing US objections to “Egypt’s democratic backslide… it keeps open the door for Putin… to gain influence in Egypt at the expense of US interests,” said Anna Borshchevskaya of The Washington Institute For Near East Policy