Russia Agrees to Help Egypt Fight Terrorism, Build Nuclear Plant

Reuters

by Mary Chastain

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi agreed to work together to fight against terrorism in the world. Putin also promised Sisi to help the country build a nuclear power plant.

It is Putin’s first visit to Egypt in over a decade. The trip makes him the most powerful world leader to visit the country since Sisi took over after Mohammed Morsi was ousted. However, the visit could be viewed as another insult to the West from Putin. Tensions are extremely high between the West and Russia, while “relations between Egypt and the United States have cooled” after the overthrow of Morsi. This may be forcing Sisi to seek an alliance with Russia, which he called a “strategic friend.”



The two leaders agreed on “the need to increase international efforts to combat terrorism.” At a press conference, Sisi and Putin told the world the two countries “stand together in the face of terrorism which poses a threat to the entire world.” Both said the world needs to deal with both the terrorists themselves and the causes of terrorism.
The meetings took an interesting turn when Putin agreed to help Egypt build its first nuclear power plant. He even promised to supply staff and scientists.
“We discussed today the possibility of cooperation in nuclear power engineering,” announced Putin. “If final decisions are made, they will relate not only to the construction of a nuclear power plant but also to the creation of a whole new nuclear power industry in Egypt.”
Sisi said the power plant, placed in El-Dabaa, 104 miles west of Alexandria, will help with Egypt’s need for electricity. The site is home to a research reactor the Soviets built in the 1950s. Russian company Rosatom will build the plants according to “Russian technology” and supply 1,200-megawatt reactors. Technical experts from Egypt will arrive in Moscow on Monday.