Russian Officials Coordinate Putin’s First Visit To Egypt

Russian President Putin’s special representative for the Middle East and deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, is coordinating with Egyptian officials the timing of the Russian president’s visit to Egypt.

Amid the conference of reconstructing Gaza, taking place Sunday in Cairo, Bogdanov told MENA state news agency that Egypt and Russia are in talks to coordinate the first visit of the Russian president to Egypt.

Bogdanov added that he has discussed many issues with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, including fighting terrorist groups like the Islamic State and related regional developments.

Egypt had strong ties with Russia in the 1950s and 1960s, with the Soviet Union the main supplier of arms to Egypt until the early 1970s. Relations soured after Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979, bringing in $1.3 billion in annual US military aid to Cairo.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s first visit to a foreign non-Arab/African state after he was sworn in as president 8 June, following a landslide electoral victory, was to Russia.

Source : Ahram online