"Russians can give you arms but only the United States can give you a solution"
About this Quote
The intent is triangular. It warns Moscow that weapons without a political endgame are a dead-end investment. It flatters Washington by assigning it the only role that matters, while quietly pressuring it to prove the claim. And it signals to Egyptian and Arab audiences that pragmatism, not Cold War romance, will drive Cairo’s strategy.
The subtext is that the post-1967 Middle East wasn’t suffering from a shortage of guns; it was suffering from a shortage of guarantees. The U.S., with its deep ties to Israel, could credibly broker land-for-peace arrangements and security commitments in a way the USSR could not. Sadat understood that influence flows through relationships, not rhetoric.
Context makes the sentence sharper. In the 1970s, Sadat pivoted dramatically away from Soviet alignment, expelled Soviet advisors, and ultimately bet Egypt’s future on U.S.-mediated diplomacy that culminated at Camp David. The quote isn’t just analysis; it’s a public repositioning: Egypt moving from a client in an arms race to a player in a settlement.
Quote Details
| Topic | Peace |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Sadat, Anwar. (2026, January 15). Russians can give you arms but only the United States can give you a solution. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/russians-can-give-you-arms-but-only-the-united-171235/
Chicago Style
Sadat, Anwar. "Russians can give you arms but only the United States can give you a solution." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/russians-can-give-you-arms-but-only-the-united-171235/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Russians can give you arms but only the United States can give you a solution." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/russians-can-give-you-arms-but-only-the-united-171235/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.






