US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Pentagon chief Mark Esper warned Egypt of possible sanctions in connection with Cairo’s decision to continue the purchase of Russian Su-35 fighters, The Wall Street Journal reported. The publication claims that he had at his disposal a letter sent by Pompeo and Esper to the Minister of Defense and Military Industry of Egypt, Colonel General Mohammed Ahmed Zaki.

The message notes that Egypt’s acquisition of the Russian Su-35 will complicate the provision of military assistance to the country by the United States, in connection with which Pompeo and Esper called on the Egyptian minister to cancel the deal.

“New major arms deals with Russia will at least hinder future US-Egypt transactions in this area, as well as security assistance,” the letter said.

WSJ also notes that the appeal of Pompeo and Esper was sent to Cairo at the same time that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Egypt, who attended the sixth meeting of the Russian-Egyptian commission on military-technical cooperation.

Washington's discontent

In 2015, China became the first foreign customer of new fighters - before that, the Su-35 was in service only with the Russian Air Force. Under the $ 2.5 billion contract, Beijing acquired 24 cars from the Russian side. An agreement for the supply of 11 Su-35 fighters was concluded with Indonesia in February 2018.

Later, media reported that Indonesia could allegedly withdraw from the contract due to concerns about sanctions by Washington under the Law on Countering America's Adversaries through Sanctions (CAATSA). Subsequently, the head of the Ministry of Defense of Indonesia, Ryamizard Ryakudu, said that his country would continue to fulfill its obligations under existing agreements with the Russian Federation.

Experts recall that the US authorities had previously tried to put pressure on Egypt to terminate the contract for the purchase of Russian fighters. In April 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told members of the U.S. Congressional Budget Appropriations Committee that the White House had warned Cairo that importing arms and military equipment from Russia would entail the introduction of restrictive measures in accordance with the CAATSA.

  • US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Pentagon CEO Mark Esper
  • AFP
  • © Rick Rycroft

The CAATSA law, adopted by the US Congress in response to the alleged “interference” of Russia in the US presidential election, allows introducing various kinds of restrictions on customers of Russian defense enterprises. The United States began to actively apply this law after several countries showed interest in the S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.

Egypt is not the first state that the White House threatens with sanctions for the purchase of weapons from Moscow. In 2018, the restrictive measures stipulated by the CAATSA provisions were introduced against the weapons development department of the Central Military Commission of the People's Republic of China (EDD) and its head Li Shangfu for contracts for the purchase of air defense systems from Russia.

In addition, the United States also pressured Turkey for acquiring S-400 systems - in retaliation, the US Senate froze the transfer of fifth-generation F-35 fighters to Turkey, excluded the country from their production program and announced the possible termination of training of Turkish pilots on these aircraft. However, the Trump administration has still not imposed sanctions against Ankara in accordance with CAATSA: the White House does not leave attempts to convince Turkey to terminate the contract with the Russian Federation in exchange for some kind of agreement for $ 100 billion, which a number of American media have already called "super deal."

In addition, the State Department announced that they intend to exert pressure on India, which also signed a major contract to purchase Russian air defense systems. The White House is still lingering with sanctions in the hope of convincing New Delhi, but the Trump administration did not rule out that a number of restrictions in accordance with the CAATSA will be introduced against the country in the future.

“Only sanctions remain”

According to experts, the sanctions policy is the only tool that the US can use in its large-scale struggle against Russian defense industry exports.

“Earlier, Washington scared Erdogan and Turkey with sanctions for the purchase of the S-400, now it scares the Egyptian authorities, respectively, he can only apply this policy to other countries. This primarily demonstrates that Americans cannot provide their competitiveness in other ways, ”said Dmitry Evstafiev, professor at the HSE, in an interview with RT.

According to the director of the US Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, Yuri Rogulev, acting in this way, Washington is trying to establish its dominant position in the global arms market.

  • Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (left) and Egyptian Minister of Defense and Military Industry Muhammad Zaki during a meeting in Cairo
  • RIA News
  • © Vadim Savitsky

“The United States for some time regarded Egypt as its ally, respectively, supported it and supplied weapons. Today, Washington is making Cairo a choice, saying that it must buy either American weapons or Russian weapons. In this case, this is not only a matter of unfair competition, but also a demonstration of political influence, ”the expert explained in a conversation with RT.

At the same time, Yuri Rogulev added that the presence of US-made aviation equipment and missile defense systems in the Middle East guarantees the Pentagon access to their airspace.

As Dmitry Evstafiev notes, the American side is trying to clear the market for Egypt with its F-35 fighter jets through sanctions pressure on Egypt, whose platform, according to analysts, is very controversial in terms of combat performance.

“But it still needs to be exported in order to recoup its development program, so the Americans are making efforts to quickly sell this fighter to someone.” Washington may also offer Patriot air defense systems and some systems for the navy, but nothing more, ”the expert explained.

He also recalled that to lobby its defense products, the United States actively used lending, investments in industrial development in other countries, leasing programs and long-term assistance, which guaranteed the purchase of US weapons.

“There was also political leverage — membership in various military-political alliances, which drastically reduced the possibility of acquiring weapons from someone else. Today, the United States, in fact, has only sanctions left, which speaks of the unification of the instruments of American global monopolarity and, accordingly, demonstrates Washington’s weakness in this sector, ”concluded Yevstafyev.