Two days before ousted President Mohammed Morsi’s trial, US Secretary of State John Kerry paid a visit to Egypt in what seemed an attempt to prevent further deterioration in the ties between the two former allies. Hours before, Lt. Gen. Vyacheslav Kondrashov, Russian deputy chief of staff and head of GRU military intelligence, was in Cairo meeting with Egyptian military chiefs and going through the list of Russian military hardware they want to buy in their first major arms transaction with Moscow in more than three decades.
In the joint press briefing with Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, Kerry tried repeatedly to assure Egyptians that the United States was their friend. He said, "I want to first express to the Egyptian people as clearly and as forcefully as I can, in no uncertain terms, the United States is a friend of the people of Egypt, of the country of Egypt, and we are a partner to your country." He admitted there were difficult challenges that strain the relationship, but he tried to convince Egyptians that US suspension of aid was not meant to punish Egyptians for their political choices. On his part, Fahmy spoke of the turbulence that rocked the relations, but said that Egypt’s decision to diversify arms sourcing is not directed against the United States.
