BALTIM, May 19 (RIA Novosti) – Egyptian presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi has pledged to restore the country’s relationship with Russia to the level it enjoyed at the peak of the bilateral friendship back in the 1950s-1960s.
“We will seek to bring back the kind of cooperation with Russia … that was there during the time of the Aswan Dam construction, so that Russia could pursue its interests to our common benefit,” Sabahi told RIA Novosti.
The presidential hopeful from the left-wing Egyptian Popular Current movement stressed Egypt was grateful for Soviet assistance in the middle of the 20th century. He said that if elected he plans to diversify Egypt’s foreign relations and promote closer ties with a wider range of global powers on an equal basis.
Russia would be one of Egypt’s key partners, Sabahi stressed. He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s open support of his opponent, Field Marshall Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, had not affected his decision to move closer to Russia.
Sabahi is one of only two candidates running for the presidential office in Egypt on May 26-27. His rival is the country’s former army chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, who played a major role in the recent military coup and ouster of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi.
