The Wall Street Journal: Egypt has given Russia “decisive access” to its airspace to transfer weapons to Ukraine
The Egyptian authorities remained silent about a report published by the American “Wall Street Journal”, in which it quoted US and Egyptian officials as saying that Egypt “ignored US demands to close its airspace to Russian military flights.”
The US report, published Friday, described the move as “a test of Washington’s limited ability to choke off Russian supplies before an expected Ukrainian counterattack.”
Last month, the American Washington Post published “top secret” documents that were recently leaked, indicating that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi gave orders to produce about 40,000 pieces of rocket ammunition for Russia, but Egypt, Russia and the United States quickly denied the matter.
According to the “Wall Street Journal” report, “the United States and Ukraine persuaded countries, including Turkey, Jordan and Iraq, to deny access to at least some Russian military aircraft last year after the invasion of Ukraine, forcing Moscow’s planes to fly an additional 2,000 miles, and as many as five More hours, to reach strategic bases in Syria.
-The newspaper stated that “American officials asked Egypt, during the months of February and March, to close its airspace to Russian military aviation, a step that would have prevented its arrival to Syria.”
-However, according to Egyptian and American officials, Egypt (the main non-NATO ally of the United States) did not respond to the demands, and continued to open its airspace to Russian military flights.
The newspaper indicated that the US State Department refused to comment on what it considered “private diplomatic talks,” while the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.
According to the “Wall Street Journal”, although other countries such as Saudi Arabia allow the passage of such flights, “Egypt’s role is vital because of its strategic location linking Africa and Asia, and because its airspace borders Greece, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). , which also prevented the transit of Russian flights.
The American newspaper says, “The Russian military bases in Syria are essential for the launch of flights to Africa, the Caribbean, and beyond, and recent weeks have witnessed an increase in the number of Russian military flights through Egyptian airspace.”
