Obama allowing Putin to expand his region.
Via JPost
A Russian military delegation left Egypt on Friday after a four day visit to boost cooperation and plan on carrying out joint military exercises early next year, a source told an Egyptian newspaper.
The Russian delegation met with a number of senior army officials and agreed on the general plans to hold joint military exercises, a source told al-Shorouk in a story published Saturday.
The source added that the parties agreed to contracts for the purchase of spare parts for Russian weapons and in the next few days, new talks will take place between the two militaries.
This is the fourth reported visit over the past few months.
If media reports late last month that Egypt plans to purchase 24 MiG-35 fighter jets is true, it would “represent a significant event in the Middle East strategic picture, another sign of reduced United States involvemet in the region,” stated a report this month by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) by Yiftah Shapir, Zvi Magen, and Gal Perel.
Besides the economic benefit of such an arms deal, “the clear Russian interest is in the political-strategic realm,” it said adding it is “a component of Russia’s overall effort to rehabilitate its status in the Middle East, which was greatly undermined during the Arab Spring.”
Hence, Russia seeks to improve relations with regional countries, returning to “arms supply diplomacy.”