ABSTRACT
In dealing with the Soviets Egypt had overcome the first hurdle in its game of nations, but there were more to come, because the root problems in the relationship with the Soviet Union had not been solved. One of these issues was the Soviet decision not to send Egypt the remaining two-thirds of the arms negotiated for in 1973. A second problem was the repayment of the Egyptian debt. The third was Sadat’s personal feelings toward the Soviets. My meeting with Brezhnev in January 1974 had led to a heated exchange about the Soviet refusal to honour the arms deal, but despite our accusations the Soviets would not relent. In the following months, there were frequent exchanges between Moscow and Cairo, and we repeatedly brought up the subject, but to no avail. To make matters worse, the Soviet kept pressing us on the repayment of our debt. By late 1974, Moscow was insisting that Egypt should pay back $500 million a year, a sum which Egypt simply could not raise given the prevailing economic conditions. We offered to pay back $10 million a year for the time being, and to increase our exports of commodities to the Soviet Union to help repay our civil debt. Our positions were so far apart that compromise was not possible.
