Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Egypt next week to discuss expanding political, economic, energy and trade ties, officials said Thursday.<\/p>\n
During Monday\u2019s trip the Russian leader will hold talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on issues related to stability and security in the Middle East and North Africa, the Kremlin said.<\/p>\n
The Egyptian government said Putin\u2019s visit reflects the shared commitment to \u201cstrengthening the historic and strategic relations\u201d between Moscow and Cairo.<\/p>\n
Putin\u2019s visit follows the Russian government\u2019s announcement last week that Moscow and Cairo have drafted an agreement for Russian warplanes to use Egyptian military bases.<\/p>\n
The deal comes as part of Moscow\u2019s efforts to further expand its military foothold in the region following its campaign in Syria.<\/p>\n
Under al-Sisi, Egypt has expanded military ties with Russia and signed a slew of deals to buy Russian weapons.<\/p>\n
On a visit to Cairo last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu noted an increase in military cooperation between the two countries and emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation in fighting terrorism.<\/p>\n
An Islamic State affiliate based in the northern part of Egypt\u2019s Sinai Peninsula claimed responsibility for the October 2015 downing of a Russian passenger jet that killed all 224 people on board, mostly Russian tourists.<\/p>\n
The bombing prompted Russia to cut commercial flights with Egypt, a heavy blow that decimated the country\u2019s vital tourism industry.<\/p>\n
Moscow and Cairo have held talks on boosting airport security and resuming the air link, but no agreement has been reached so far.<\/p>\n
(Egypt Independent)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Egypt next week to discuss expanding political, economic, energy and trade ties, officials said Thursday. During Monday\u2019s trip the Russian leader will hold talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on issues related to stability and security in the Middle East and North Africa, the Kremlin said. The Egyptian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":58632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7863],"tags":[28651,28650,20539],"class_list":["post-58631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-section","tag-egyptian-president","tag-russian-president","tag-vladimir-putin"],"yoast_head":"\n