Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi congratulated Russia's Vladimir Putin by phone on his re-election as president, El-Sisi's office said on Wednesday. According to the Egyptian readout of the conversation, Putin expressed his appreciation for the call, and reasserted his appreciation for the Egyptian people. Putin also expressed that he looked forward to boosting cooperation between Egypt and Russia. The two presidents also discussed a number of aspects of Egyptian-Russian relations and how to boost them. They also discussed the situation in the Middle East, especially those issues of joint interest. El-Sisi and Putin agreed on the importance of joint efforts to reach political settlements to several crises in the region. Putin secured a second consecutive term as president of the Russian Fedaration after winning 76.6 percent of the vote in this week's election.