CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi felicitated Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin Tuesday on his landslide re-election.
El-Sisi extended his sincere felicitations to Putin, whose election for a 5th term with 87.28% of the vote reflects the confidence of the Russian people, the presidency’s statement said.
It added that El-Sisi wished Putin success and the Russian people further progress and prosperity AFP reported.
Putin had run effectively unchallenged in the polls, with only loyalist candidates allowed the vote in a process that the US dismissed as “incredibly undemocratic.”
El-Sisi had himself won a third term with 89.6% of the vote in a December last year election in which he ran against a small field of relative unknowns.
Egypt’s Ties with Russia
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Cairo has maintained close relations with Putin, despite calls by Western allies to stand with Kyiv.
Egypt has long been heavily dependent on food imports, most of which came from Russia or Ukraine before the war.
Their disruption by the war sent prices soaring in a massive blow to the Egyptian economy that has left Cairo in a delicate balancing act.
