Two days before ousted President Mohammed Morsi’s trial, US Secretary of State John Kerry paid a visit to Egypt in what seemed an attempt to prevent further deterioration in the ties between the two former allies. Hours before, Lt. Gen. Vyacheslav Kondrashov, Russian deputy chief of staff and head of GRU military intelligence, was in Cairo meeting with Egyptian military chiefs and going through the list of Russian military hardware they want to buy in their first major arms transaction with Moscow in more than three decades.

In the joint press briefing with Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, Kerry tried repeatedly to assure Egyptians that the United States was their friend. He said, "I want to first express to the Egyptian people as clearly and as forcefully as I can, in no uncertain terms, the United States is a friend of the people of Egypt, of the country of Egypt, and we are a partner to your country." He admitted there were difficult challenges that strain the relationship, but he tried to convince Egyptians that US suspension of aid was not meant to punish Egyptians for their political choices. On his part, Fahmy spoke of the turbulence that rocked the relations, but said that Egypt’s decision to diversify arms sourcing is not directed against the United States.

A few weeks before, and while the United States was supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and pressuring Egypt’s interim government to stall a move against the Rabia al-Adawiya compound’s encampment — which was making Cairo resemble a civil war-plagued Beirut — Russia retasked some of its satellites to gather intelligence on the terrorists in the Sinai in support of Egypt’s fight against Islamist militants in the peninsula. All of a sudden, Russia has emerged as a de facto ally to Egypt and giant Putin posters have been reported spontaneously appearing in popular demonstrations in Egypt. Putin is rumored to be visiting Egypt this month.

Both the United States and Egyptian administrations downplay the rift between the two countries. But you can just see that each has taken a different path. The paths have parted. And with time, the parties will grow farther apart. It is life. Even close friends one day wake up and discover they have different interests leading each to take a different path, and before long they grow apart. But when did it all start? Is it really just because of the US administration’s position on what happened after June 30? I suspect the problems are much deeper and go back to grievances which have accumulated over years and even decades.