Sisi is making Putin feel very special in Cairo

CAIRO, Egypt — Cairenes on their way to work Monday morning were greeted with an odd sight: All along the Qasr el Nil bridge in central Cairo were massive posters bearing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s face. He wore an uncharacteristically placid smile, eyes cast playfully to his right. Against different colored backgrounds, words in various languages floated around the Russian leader’s face bidding him a warm “welcome.”

Putin has been in town to meet with Egyptian President and former general Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi. Since Putin's arrival the two have been pictured in various scenes of “entente cordiale": a cozy dinner with a shiny tablecloth and city view, Putin presenting Sisi with a new Kalashnikov — a taste of heavier machinery to come?

In their matching shades, both project a similar strongman air.

The trip, with its public displays of warmth between the two leaders, is a gesture of Egypt’s and Russia’s independence from, and perhaps defiance of, the West. One of the items on the agenda is thought to be the elimination of the dollar as currency used to trade between the two countries.

The relationship was also affirmed with a Russian promise during the trip to build a nuclear power plant in Egypt, as well as to deepen economic cooperation in the fields of agriculture, fuel and energy, among others. On the security front, Sisi announced at a press conference that the two countries would "continue reinforcing military cooperation, especially given the current circumstances," and the two leaders agreed that "terrorism does not stop at borders."

Both leaders have led crackdowns on Islamists in their respective countries in the name of fighting terrorism.

Putin, standing next to Sisi after talks in Cairo, announced yet another round of talks between opposition players and members of the Syrian government: "We look forward … to the next round of such talks, which ultimately I hope will lead to a peaceful settlement of the situation in Syria," according to Reuters.

Key figures in the Syrian opposition boycotted the initial meeting, held in Moscow in late January. Putin is a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Both Putin and Sisi face deep criticism of their domestic rights records.

Hundreds of demonstrators have been killed under the Sisi government and thousands jailed. Back in 2013, Egypt introduced a ban on protests. The night before Putin’s arrival, at least 25 soccer fans died during clashes with security forces. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) blamed the Ministry of Interior for the incident, saying that “crimes of security violence” in the country have reached “an unprecedented level” in recent years.

More than 5,300 have died in fighting in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops are allegedly assisting separatist forces — a charge Putin's government denies. More than 1.5 million have been displaced.

The state security apparatus was in full force to ensure a smooth visit. Policemen in uniform and plainclothes wearing black balaclavas lined the streets of central Cairo. At the hospital next to Cairo's Opera House, some doctors told their patients to come in early to avoid a possible roadblock when Putin was to attend a performance of excerpts from Swan Lake and Aida.

The military band, sounding a bit worse for wear, also surprised the Russian leader with a rendition of his country’s national anthem in the middle of a Nile-side sandstorm.