President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi of Egypt, one of America’s closest allies in the Middle East and a major recipient of U.S. aid, recently ordered subordinates to produce up to 40,000 rockets to be covertly shipped to Russia, according to a leaked U.S. intelligence document.

A portion of a top secret document, dated Feb. 17, summarizes purported conversations between Sisi and senior Egyptian military officials and also references plans to supply Russia with artillery rounds and gunpowder. In the document, Sisi instructs the officials to keep the production and shipment of the rockets secret “to avoid problems with the West.”

An intelligence document leaked from the U.S. intelligence agency reveals that President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi of Egypt secretly planned to supply rockets to Russia, producing up to 40,000 rockets for covert shipment.

The document states that President Sisi told officials to keep the production and shipment hidden "to avoid problems with the West." According to the spokesman for Egypt's Foreign Ministry, Egypt denies involvement in the crisis and confirms support for the U.N. charter and international law in the U.N. General Assembly resolutions.

The document does not state why Russia is interested in acquiring these rockets, but its military has reportedly been running low on ammunition for the war in Ukraine.

Clearly, this poses a potential problem for Egypt since it's a major recipient of U.S. aid, and providing arms to Russia could harm its relationship with U.S. authorities. Some U.S. officials also suspect that North Korea is clandestinely supplying Russia with artillery rounds, and the leak reveals that China could be contemplating doing the same.

The document certainly leaves questions concerning whether the United States should continue supporting Egypt under these new circumstances.