Al Sissi begins key visit to Russia

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi started yesterday a threeday official visit to Russia. The visit comes two weeks before the third anniversary of the crash of a Russian passenger plane in Sinai, which prompted Moscow to suspend all flights to Egypt. In April, Russia resumed flights to Cairo.

The Egyptian leader is due to meet tomorrow Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited Cairo last December.

Al Sissi is expected to seek Putin’s backing for the restart of Russian flights to Egypt’s holiday resorts, which have been hard hit by Moscow’s suspension of flights in the wake of the October 2015 plane downing claimed by the terrorist group Daesh, Egyptian media reported.

Tourism hit

Tourism, a key source of income for Egypt, has suffered from the unrest that followed the 2011 uprising.

“The visit gives a new impetus to constructive and continuing cooperation and boosts the strategic relations between the two countries,” Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Radi said yesterday.

Al Sissi is due today to address the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament.

Russia is a major trade partner with Egypt, with trade estimated at around $6.5 billion (Dh23.85 billion). Russia has signed an agreement with Egypt to build a nuclear power plant in the coastal area of Al Dabaa and another to set up an industrial zone near the Suez Canal.