Chalk up another victory for Dark Brandon. After initially agreeing to supply Russia with 40,000 missiles to assist its invasion effort, the leadership of Egypt pivoted after lobbying by the Biden Administration and will now produce artillery shells for the Ukrainian defenders, the Washington Post reports.
In February, days prior to the invasion, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi agreed to provide the arms to Russia, but instructed his staff to keep the deal quiet so Western leaders wouldn’t learn about it. However, American diplomats reached out to El-Sisi contemporaneously and persuaded Egypt to manufacture artillery shells for Ukraine. Egypt hoped to leverage its cooperation into getting higher-technology arms from the United States, which views Egypt as a key ally in the Middle East.