The Egyptian-Russian relationship has become increasingly important, especially during the past five years as Cairo is keen to continue diversifying its foreign partners and Moscow is in pursuit of new allies in Africa and the region, notably after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.
Recent developments in the region starting with the war on Gaza and then the war with Iran have called for more cooperation and coordination between the two countries.
Cairo presents a strategic lifeline to Moscow to guarantee its active presence in the Middle East and the African continent, said Amr Al-Deeb, an expert in Russian and international affairs, pointing to the development in bilateral economic and political relations in the light of the ongoing international geopolitical tensions.
The situation in the Middle East topped the topics discussed during Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty’s visit to Moscow, which concluded on Saturday.
It was described by Raouf Saad, Egypt’s former ambassador to Russia, as an important visit that has multiple objectives. The visit was partially prompted, he explained, by last month’s call between President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The call and subsequent visit constitute a message from Russia that it continues to be interested in the region, Saad told Al-Ahram Weekly.
The contradictory statements delivered by US President Donald Trump on the US-Israeli war on Iran indicate that the US cannot continue its present kind of involvement in the region since it presents a genuine crisis to the world economy.
“Russia may, in one way or another, be involved in settling the crisis if we take into consideration that Russia and Iran have a special relationship. Russia built the first Iranian nuclear plant in Bushehr, for example,” Saad said.
The volatile situation in the region topped the issues discussed during Abdelatty’s meeting with Putin in Moscow.
“The situation in the region is a matter of shared concern; and in this regard, it is very important for Russia to hear Egypt’s assessments as a key Middle East country,” Putin said.
He expressed Russia’s hope for a swift resolution to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, since “the situation in the region concerns us all,” he added.
With an eye on strengthening bilateral cooperation, particularly in trade, energy, and food security, Putin proposed during the meeting with Abdelatty the establishment of a grain and energy logistics hub in Egypt, as a sign of the significant deepening of strategic ties between Moscow and Cairo.
While the logistics hub remains in the early stages, Putin’s suggestion and backing indicate that technical teams from both countries will soon begin drafting the framework for what could become one of the most significant joint economic projects in recent years and reshape power in the region.
It could also ease the distribution of Russian agricultural and energy products across the region.
The proposed logistics hub initiative, which would handle grain and energy supplies, indicates that Cairo has become Moscow’s first option for that initiative, according to Al-Deeb. He also referred to similar initiatives such as the initiative to export Russian fertilisers to Africa via Egypt during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Grain exports are not the only form of economic cooperation between the two countries. This also includes the Al-Dabaa nuclear plant project in Egypt as well as interest by Russian investors in Egyptian investment opportunities, he said.
During his meeting with Abdelatty, Putin said that the construction of the nuclear plant at Al-Dabaa and an industrial zone in Egypt were two key milestones in the relationship between the two countries.
The nuclear plant in the city of Al-Dabaa, about 320 km northwest of Cairo, is the first to be built in Egypt. On 19 November 2015, Egypt and Russia signed an initial agreement, under which Russia agreed to build and finance the plant with a loan of $28 billion.
The first reactor at the plant is projected to be completed in 2028, and four others will be completed by 2030.
The industrial zone is also entering a new phase, as Russian auto-manufacturing companies are advancing plans to expand local vehicle production, reinforcing the country’s role as a regional manufacturing hub. More than 10 major Russian companies have expressed interest in participating in the project.
Putin also pointed to the Russia-Africa Summit during his meeting with Abdelatty, which is scheduled for October 2026, expressing his hopes that Egypt will be represented by a high-level delegation.
The first Russia-Africa Summit, held in October 2019 in Sochi on the Black Sea coast, was jointly chaired by Putin and Al-Sisi. The summits aim to deepen trade and economic cooperation between Russia and the African countries.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attended Putin and Abdelatty’s meeting, and the latter also held a separate meeting with Lavrov during which the two men reviewed regional developments together with other bilateral issues including trade and economic cooperation.
They praised the progress achieved so far in establishing the Al-Dabaa plant as well as the Russian industrial zone and also focused on plans to establish the logistics hub for Russian petroleum products and grain, which is expected to meet the needs of Arab as well as African countries.
“We hope this project will become a platform for production and exports,” Abdelatty said.
Lavrov noted the increase in trade between the two countries, stating that by the end of last year bilateral trade had exceeded $10 billion, an increase of nearly 12 per cent from the previous year.
Both men agreed on the need to advocate de-escalation and political solutions to current regional crises.
“Russia and Egypt have aligned strategic approaches to the crisis in the Middle East,” Lavrov said.
Egypt was one of the first states to establish relations with the Russian Federation after the disbanding of the former Soviet Union in 1991.
Russian-Egyptian relations were established on 26 August 1943. In 2023, the two states celebrated the 80th anniversary of relations between Cairo and Moscow.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 9 April, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
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