US threatens Egypt with sanctions over arms deal with Russia

The United States has warned Egypt of possible sanctions over Cairo's decision to purchase fighter jets from Russia.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper sent a letter on Wednesday to Cairo, urging the country to scrap a deal to purchase Su-35 jets from Russia, reported Xinhua quoting a US-based media.

"Major new arms deals with Russia would-at a minimum-complicate future U.S. defense transactions with and security assistance to Egypt," read the letter.

Reportedly, Cairo signed a 2-billion-dollar agreement with Moscow earlier this year to buy more than 20 Su-35 jets.

The letter came as Washington is also putting pressure on Turkey, another regional power and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), to drop its bid to acquire Russian S-400 missile systems.

The Turkish purchase of the S-400 missile defense system from Moscow violates the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which prohibits major purchases of Russian military hardware. Moreover, it prompted Washington to eject Turkey from its F-35 joint strike fighter program.