Putin Backs Sisi's 'Run' for Egyptian Presidency

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday endorsed Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's undeclared bid to head the strife-torn North African nation as the two leaders negotiated a massive Moscow weapons deal.

Sisi came to Moscow with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy for talks aimed at securing Russian assistance -- stagnant since the late Soviet era -- that could replace subsiding support from Cairo's more recent ally Washington.

Putin told Sisi that Moscow fully backed Egypt's new constitution and crucially made no mention of Cairo's crackdown on protests or the army-backed overthrow in July of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

"I know that you, mister defense minister, have decided to run for president of Egypt," Putin told Sisi in televised remarks.

"I wish you luck both from myself personally and from the Russian people."

The 59-year-old Egyptian field marshal has not actually declared his presidential ambitions but is overwhelmingly predicted to run in elections expected to be held later this year.

A Kuwaiti newspaper quoted Sisi as saying last week that he had "no choice but to meet the demands of the Egyptian people" and run for head of state. The army later denied the report.

Sisi would have to give up his title as head of the Egyptian armed forces in order to contest the election.

Sisi and Fahmy earlier on Thursday met their Russian counterparts to negotiate a $2-billion arms deal the two sides initially discussed in Cairo in November -- a month after Washington suspended millions of dollars in assistance to the Egyptian army over Morsi's ouster.

"Our visit offers a new start to the development of military and technological cooperation between Egypt and Russia," Sisi told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

"We hope to speed up this cooperation," Sisi said.

Top officials revealed no details of Thursday's military discussions while signaling that both sides were interested in the speedy conclusion of a deal.

Russia's defense chief Shoigu stressed that Moscow "was interested in seeing Egypt be a powerful and stable state."

"In this connection, we need to discuss fairly important issues concerning military and technological cooperation -- their current state and prospects for the future."

The head of Russia's state industrial holding company said after the Cairo meeting that Moscow was on the verge of reaching a landmark agreement to deliver air defense systems to Egypt's army.

Rostec chief Sergei Chemezov said on November 18 that "some contracts (with Egypt) have already been signed -- particularly one concerning air defense systems."

But he later clarified that he was referring only to a framework agreement and not to firm delivery contracts.

Moscow's authoritative Vedomosti business daily on November 15 said the deals under discussion were worth more than $2 billion and could be financed by Saudi Arabia.

The Soviet Union was the main supplier of arms to Egypt in the 1960s and early 1970s. Cooperation between the two sides dropped after Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty and Cairo began receiving generous U.S. aid.

Russia is now keen to revive those ties and Shoigu made clear on Thursday that Moscow fully supported the tough measures taken by Sisi against Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement.

"We cannot but celebrate the adoption of the new Egyptian constitution," the Russian defence minister told Sisi.

"We view your efforts at achieving stability as effective."

Shoigu added that the two sides had touched on the possibility of Russian and Egypt conducting joint military exercises and the option of the North African country's officers undergoing military training in Moscow.