Putin's AK-47 Gift Seals Egypt Ties

(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.

More from Bloomberg.com: Orange Vies With Deutsche Telekom in $1 Billion Polish Sale

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.

More from Bloomberg.com: Putin Visits His Egyptian Mini-Me

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.

More from Bloomberg.com: Ukraine Peace Talks No Cause for Bond-Investor Optimism

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry didn’t answer telephone calls seeking comment.

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