Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi confirmed today, Friday, that compromising Sudan’s security, unity, and sovereignty represents a red line that Egypt will not allow to be crossed.
This came within the framework of a meeting between Sisi today with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in New Delhi, before the start of the BRICS summit tomorrow, Saturday, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidential spokesman.
The spokesman said that the two presidents discussed current developments in Sudan, and stressed the need to preserve Sudan’s sovereignty, unity, and national institutions.
The spokesman added that the two presidents exchanged visions on a number of regional and international issues of common concern, most notably the Palestinian issue, where they stressed the necessity of reaching a just and comprehensive settlement, based on the two-state solution and international legitimacy resolutions.
In this context, Al-Sisi reviewed Egypt’s efforts to push the implementation of the entitlements of the second phase of the agreement to stop the war in the Gaza Strip, stressing the necessity of introducing the necessary humanitarian aid in a sufficient and sustainable manner, to alleviate the suffering of the residents of the Strip.
The meeting also touched on the Iranian crisis, where the two presidents stressed the priority of reducing escalation and returning to the negotiating path, with the aim of reaching a comprehensive and sustainable agreement that ends the crisis by peaceful means.
The spokesman stated that the two presidents stressed their keenness to continue working to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries and cooperation in various fields, for the benefit of the two countries and the two peoples.
The Egyptian President referred to the pivotal projects being implemented in Egypt within the framework of the Egyptian-Russian partnership, most notably the Dabaa nuclear power plant project, and the Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, as well as cooperation in the fields of energy, trade, investment, food security and tourism.
For his part, the Russian President affirmed his country's commitment to continuing to strengthen cooperation with Egypt, and to contribute to supporting Cairo's efforts aimed at achieving comprehensive development and implementing major projects in accordance with the agreed upon time programs and specifications.
New dimensions towards which Egyptian-Turkish defense cooperation is moving from manufacturing to export, in a partnership that comes between the two countries amid increasing strategic cooperation and rising tensions in the region.
The growing bilateral cooperation that Egypt and Turkey emphasized on Friday, in the second ministerial conversation within a few days, will strengthen the path of defense cooperation, according to experts who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, expecting the military partnership between the two countries to increase in the coming period.
Defense cooperation
Defense cooperation is moving from the manufacturing stage to export, as the General Director of the Turkish Mechanical and Chemical Industries Corporation, Ilhami Kalash, revealed in an interview with the official Turkish Anatolia News Agency that the corporation established a company in Cairo called “Zafar” that operates in accordance with Egyptian law, on the sidelines of its participation in the “El Alamein International Air Show,” which concluded on Friday.
He added: “We established this company in Cairo to contribute to our commercial operations in Egypt, and to our commercial activities in Africa and the Gulf region. We concluded a contract with Egypt and the Egyptian Ministry of Military Production regarding the joint production of energy and explosive materials, as well as the joint production of various munitions equipment.”
Kalash stressed that interest in the Turkish Tolga air defense system has increased, “especially in light of the multiple types of asymmetric threats, and Egypt is also interested in this matter. We have now conducted a symbolic sale with the aim of introducing the Tolga system into the inventory of the Egyptian Armed Forces, but we are also working on creating an infrastructure that will allow marketing Tolga not to Egypt alone, but to the entire African market, as well as in the Gulf region, through the joint project that we will establish in Egypt.”
He added: “Egypt has the ability to produce military vehicles, and work is underway on joint production in which this ability will be integrated with Turkish systems and equipment.”
The Egyptian-Turkish rapprochement, which grew in 2023 following understandings that ended a political rift that lasted more than 12 years, comes two months after a visit last July, considered the first of its kind, by Egyptian Defense Minister Ashraf Salem Zaher to Turkey.
Prior to that visit, Turkey’s ambassador to Egypt, Mutlu Şen, said in a press conference that “security cooperation and military relations between Turkey and Egypt are going very well,” stressing that “the growing relations between the Turkish and Egyptian armies will contribute, in a broader sense, to the peace, security and stability of the region and the entire world.”
Last May, the Egyptian Army Chief of Staff, Ahmed Khalifa, made an official visit to Turkey, during which he met his Turkish counterpart, Metin Gorak, and ways to develop military cooperation were discussed, especially in the areas of training and exchange of experiences, other than resuming the joint exercises “Sea of Friendship.”
Last February, Egypt and Turkey signed a “military cooperation agreement” in Cairo in the presence of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was visiting the Egyptian capital at the time. Then in August 2025, the two countries signed an agreement to jointly manufacture drones with vertical take-off and landing.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, the advisor to the Military Academy for Postgraduate and Strategic Studies and the military and strategic expert, Adel Al-Omda, believes that what is striking about the Egyptian-Turkish military partnership is that it is no longer limited to purchasing weapons, but rather has begun to move toward joint manufacturing, technology transfer, training, and export.
The importance of the partnership lies in the fact that Egypt has a defense industrial base, a production structure, a wide market, and a geographical location that allows exports to Africa and the region, while Turkey has advanced and growing experience in drones, electronics, land and sea systems, and defense industries, according to the mayor.
In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Turkish analyst Taha Odeh Oglu believes that the growing military partnership between Egypt and Turkey is witnessing a qualitative leap, especially in the field of defense cooperation and manufacturing, which may develop for export in the next stage.
Growing bilateral cooperation
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced in a statement, on Friday, that Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aty discussed, by telephone, with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, “the prospects for developing the partnership between Egypt and Turkey during the next stage,” and the necessity of continuing preparations for the next meeting of the high-level Strategic Cooperation Council scheduled to be held in Turkey.
Four days ago, the Egyptian and Turkish ministers spoke by phone, and stressed their keenness to continue building on the growing momentum witnessed in relations during the recent period, and to enhance cooperation in various fields, according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on September 7 of this year.
The mayor believes that “the Egyptian-Turkish Strategic Council has already become an institutional framework for relations between the two countries, and is working to expand cooperation in multiple fields,” expecting that defense cooperation will be one of its most prominent files during the next phase on several tracks, including joint industrialization, especially joint marches and maneuvers, maritime and air cooperation, marketing, and joint export to African and Arab markets.
Turkish analyst Taha Odeh Oglu expects that defense cooperation will be “an issue always present in all Turkish-Egyptian meetings, especially since the two countries are considered important pillars in the Middle East.”
Israeli fears
The Egyptian-Turkish rapprochement, especially the military one, is still a subject of Israeli concern and fears that were recently expressed by Hebrew media.
In this regard, Al-Omda warns that “so far what is happening between Egypt and Turkey is the strengthening of internal capabilities and the diversification of defense partnerships and not the formation of an Egyptian-Turkish military alliance against a third party, but Israel is certainly looking at the issue from a different angle with more concern.” He expects Cairo and Ankara to deal with those concerns “by continuing the partnership on the basis that each country has the right to diversify its sources of armament and develop its defense industry and not turn cooperation into an offensive alliance, especially since Cairo has multiple international relations.” It adopts a policy of diversifying partnerships and not being dependent on one axis.”
In turn, Taha Odeh Oglu believes that the two countries will deal with the Israeli concern “with the logic of a policy of deterrence and not confrontation by continuing and developing defense cooperation to protect the interests and national security of each other.”
Disagreements within the Security Council postponed the resolution of an American proposal to expand the arms embargo imposed on Darfur to include all of Sudan and all the warring parties. The Council contented itself with extending the existing sanctions regime for one month, in a “technical” move that allows more time to negotiate amendments that sparked division among its members.
The Council adopted Resolution 2828, drafted by the United States, to extend the sanctions until October 9, after “long and arduous” negotiations that focused on American proposals to expand the ban, subject drones, their components and associated technologies to its restrictions, and tighten measures aimed at stopping the flow of weapons and external military support to the parties to the war.
The negotiations revealed a clear division within the Council. While Western countries supported expanding the scope of the sanctions in light of the expansion of the war from Darfur to Kordofan and the Blue Nile and the escalation of the use of drones, Russia, China, Pakistan and African countries opposed expanding the ban outside Darfur, preferring to maintain the sanctions regime in its current form.
The adoption of the resolution comes after weeks of negotiations described as “long and arduous” on a previous draft to expand the arms embargo. But the differing views among Council members on the usefulness of the current sanctions regime, as well as the extent and manner of its modification, reflect evolving realities on the ground.
The United States distributed a preliminary draft to all Council members on August 13, after first discussing the text with other permanent members. This was followed by three revised drafts and two rounds of negotiations.
According to a number of diplomats familiar with the negotiations, disagreements among members led to a modified proposal by American negotiators for a “technical” extension that would allow more time for negotiations.
This year's negotiations were held amid a sharp deterioration in the security situation across several front lines, including in Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile. There has also been growing concern about the increasing use of drones and other advanced weapons, exacerbating civilian suffering as attacks increasingly affect populated areas and critical infrastructure.
Combating the flow of weapons
There are also ongoing reports on the regional dimensions of the conflict, including external military support to the parties, cross-border flows of arms and fighters into Sudan, and the spillover of the conflict into neighboring countries.
Against this background, the Security Council continued to seek to implement the sanctions and sanctions regime, amid reports that many external actors were supplying weapons to the warring parties and the spread of violence throughout the country.
Many Member States and civil society organizations called for expanding the geographic scope of the sanctions regime beyond Darfur to include the entire country, instead of being limited to Darfur. This issue has resurfaced repeatedly in the Council in recent years, most recently during negotiations on Resolution 2791. However, African countries, China, Pakistan, and Russia have opposed expanding the geographic scope of sanctions measures beyond Darfur.
These countries appeared to support the government led by the Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan. While some Council members, especially France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, considered the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces “responsible for the ongoing atrocities in Sudan and unfit to rule the country.”
The first draft prepared by the United States sought to expand the arms embargo to include the entire territory of Sudan and apply to all parties operating in the country. It also included provisions reaffirming that drones, including dual-use components and associated technologies, fall within the scope of the arms embargo. He also asked Secretary-General António Guterres to increase the number of experts working in the expert group that supports the Sudan Sanctions Committee established under Resolution 1591 and to enhance cooperation between the group and expert groups that support other sanctions regimes in the region.
While a number of Council members supported the American proposal, others rejected it, and were prevented by representatives of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and Somalia, in addition to China, Pakistan, and Russia, who confirmed their preference for renewing the sanctions regime for another year without expanding it to include regions other than Darfur.
Differences also emerged between members of the group of three African countries regarding the feasibility and manner of discussing the essential provisions of the text. Concerns were also raised about other substantive provisions in the American draft, which go beyond the geographical scope of the sanctions. For example, some members, such as China and Russia, saw excessive focus on the use of drones and drone systems in conflict and their impact on civilians, raising concerns about the inclusion of provisions relating to dual-use components and associated technologies.
New standards
The United States included proposals submitted by some member states, including Denmark, France, Latvia, Panama, and the United Kingdom, in subsequent revised drafts, with the aim of expanding the criteria for including targeted sanctions, which previously focused on actions that obstruct the peace process or threaten stability in Darfur, to include actions that pose a threat to the stability of Sudan more broadly. The revised standards also included, among other things, violations of international law applicable in Sudan, which include targeting civilians; Kidnapping for ransom with the aim of generating revenue or providing other support to armed groups, obstructing the delivery, access or distribution of humanitarian aid, or attacking humanitarian or medical personnel, facilities, supplies or means of transport.
Additional proposals in the revised drafts called for the arms embargo to include armed mercenary personnel, whether they are from within the territory of member states or not, and called on member states to stop any direct or indirect support to the warring parties, whether logistical, financial, or military, which would allow the conflict to continue, including taking measures to prevent the launch and operation of drones from their territory.
