U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said that his country would deliver Apache helicopters to Egypt soon, Anadolu agency reported.
Speaking in a press conference in the Egyptian capital Cairo alongside his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukri, the U.S. top diplomat added that there are logical reasons why the U.S. should deliver the twin-engine attack helicopters to Egypt, noting that the planes aim to counter terrorism.
He said Egypt and Israel work together to counter terror, which means that American taxpayers' money goes in the right direction.
The U.S. Congress had earlier discussed withholding $400 million from annual aid offered Egypt, according to U.S. media. The U.S. offers Egypt $1.5 billion in annual aid, including $1.3 billion in military aid.
Kerry arrived in the Egyptian capital earlier on Sunday on a brief visit during which he met with new President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.
The U.S. Secretary of State's talks with the Egyptian President focused on the situation in the Middle East region, Egyptian and U.S. diplomatic sources said.
Egypt's relations with the U.S. soured in July last year following the ouster by the military of elected president Mohamed Morsi. In the months that followed Morsi's ouster, the American government withheld part of its annual aid to Egypt as well as the delivery of some U.S. arms.
In April, Washington lifted a ban on the delivery of ten Apache helicopters to Egypt, saying the move aimed to bolster the Arab country's efforts to counter terrorism in Sinai on the border with Israel.