Russia to help Egypt build ‘a whole new nuclear power industry’ – Putin
http://rt.com/news/231055-putin-sisi-egypt-talks/
Russia will contribute to building “a whole new nuclear power industry” in Egypt, President Vladimir Putin has announced as the two countries have signed a number of agreements after a meeting in Cairo.
The leaders of Russia and Egypt have signed “a memorandum of understanding to build the first nuclear plant in [the northern city of] El-Dabaa,” Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al Sisi has told reporters at a news conference at Cairo’s Al Qubba presidential palace.
Russia would contribute not only to the construction of a nuclear power plant, but also staff and scientific research, President Putin said.
"We discussed today the possibility of cooperation in nuclear power engineering," Putin said. "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."
If successful, the project could cover the Egypt’s necessity for electric energy, Sisi said.
"Russia has a significant experience that it could share with Cairo, and for that Egypt would be very thankful,” he said. “Also, [a nuclear plant] will cover the Egypt’s necessity for electricity.”
Russia's Putin, Egypt's Sisi say committed to fighting terrorism
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/10/us-russia-egypt-syria-idUSKBN0LE1O020150210
(Reuters) - United by a deep hostility toward Islamists, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Russia's Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday they were both committed to fighting the threat of terrorism.
The general and the former KGB officer found common ground on security at talks in Cairo that signaled a rapprochement between their two countries, at a time when relations between Egypt and the United States have cooled.
Sisi, who is fighting a raging Islamist insurgency in the Sinai region, said Putin had agreed with him that "the challenge of terrorism that faces Egypt, and which Russia also faces, does not stop at any borders".
Putin, making his first state visit to Egypt in a decade, said they agreed on "reinforcing our efforts in combating terrorism". He presented his host with a Russian-made Kalashnikov rifle, and Sisi handed him a plaque with a picture of Putin.
The Kremlin chief was the first leader of a major power to visit Egypt since former army chief Sisi became president in 2014, having toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi the previous year after mass protests against his rule.
Sisi has repeatedly called for concerted counter-terrorism efforts in the Middle East and the West. Egypt has fought Islamist militancy for decades, mostly through security crackdowns that have weakened, but failed to eliminate, radical groups.
Highlighting the challenge, security sources on Tuesday said 15 suspected Islamist militants had been killed in air raids in the Sinai Peninsula. The interior ministry said suspected Islamist militants bombed three police stations in Egypt's second city Alexandria on Tuesday.
Putin has also resorted to force against Islamists, sending troops to quell a separatist rebellion in Chechnya, but still confronts insurgents in parts of the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region.
Egypt and Russia agree to reinforce military cooperation - Sisi
http://en.aswatmasriya.com/news/view.aspx?id=68f77647-7da7-4ccb-b37b-86a58fcc04db
CAIRO, Feb 10 (Aswat Masriya) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed that "terrorism does not stop at borders," saying they face common challenges "side by side".
In a joint press conference between the two heads of state on Tuesday, Sisi said the two sides agreed to "continue reinforcing military cooperation, especially given the current circumstances."
The two sides discussed the "depth of strategic ties" that the two states share, Sisi said, describing Russia as a "strategic friend".
Putin said trade exchange between the two countries has increased by 80 percent last year, saying that one of the main factors is cooperation in the field of agricultural products.
During the visit, Egypt and Russia signed several bi-lateral agreements, including an energy agreement which will see the building of a nuclear facility in Egypt. Bilateral agreements signed by the two presidents also included ones in the fields of investment and gas, Sisi said.
Putin arrived in Cairo on Monday night leading a delegation of ministers, in his first visit to Egypt in 10 years. The Russian president invited Sisi to an official visit to Russia during the press conference today.
Sisi has visited Russia twice in 2014, once as defence minister in February on a trip that came as follow-up to a visit by Russian defence minister to Cairo in November 2013.
More recently Sisi visited Russia last August as president.
Putin’s Rifle Gift Seals Egypt Ties on Eve of Peace Talks
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-10/putin-s-ak-47-gift-seals-egypt-ties-on-eve-of-minsk-peace-talks
(Bloomberg) -- Just hours before a summit in Minsk that could decide the fate of eastern Europe for a generation, Vladimir Putin had a gift for the president of Egypt: an assault rifle.
A photo of the rifle, with its wooden stock and accompanying gun case, along with a smiling President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, was posted on the website of Egypt’s state-controlled MENA news agency. The rifle was identified as an AK-47, according to the state-run Russia Today’s Arabic website.
Russia and Egypt last year signed a preliminary accord for $3.5 billion worth of weapons, including small arms, artillery and air-defense systems. The gift came during a two-day visit to the Arab world’s most-populous country by Putin, one of El-Sisi’s key non-Arab backers. The Egyptian president faces criticism from the U.S. for his crackdown on dissent since the ouster of Islamist leader Mohammed Mursi in 2013.
Putin is slated to travel to Minsk, Belarus on Wednesday for truce talks with the leaders of Ukraine, Germany and France. A contact group involving officials from Ukraine, Russia, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and pro-Russian separatists is scheduled to meet in Minsk on Tuesday before the summit.
‘Current Circumstances’
At a joint press conference on Tuesday, Sisi said the two leaders agreed to “continue to strengthen military cooperation especially with the current circumstances,” MENA reported. They also signed an accord for Russia to help build a nuclear power plant in Egypt.
Photos of Putin have flooded the streets of Cairo this week, while Russian flags line the main streets and bridges. The two toured the Cairo opera house late on Monday, and were welcomed to the presidential palace on Tuesday by children signing “Sisi, Sisi, Putin, Putin, Long Live Egypt.”
The Automatic Kalashnikov -- Avtomat Kalashnikova, or AK-47, for the year its design was finalized -- became prized by governments and rebels alike for its low cost, ease of use, light weight and resistance to corrosion and jamming. The Soviet Army made the weapon standard issue in 1949, as did most Warsaw Pact countries and dozens of liberation armies in Africa, Asia and Latin America during the Cold War. Its inventor, Mikhail Kalashnikov, died in 2013.
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry didn’t answer telephone calls seeking comment.
National Anthem of the Russian Federation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IifStkAsemU#t=13
National Anthem of the Russian Federation, as interpreted by the orchestra of the Egyptian army, 2015-02-10.
National Anthem of Russia/Soviet Union (Instrumental)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEtIOmzwlwQ
Composerd by Alexander Alexandrov
Performed by the State Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Felix Korobov
To contact the reporter on this story: Salma El Wardany in Cairo at selwardany@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net Ben Holland, Karl Maier