Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi received a phone call from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday where they discussed bilateral relations, the presidency said in a statement. "The two presidents discussed... the Syrian issue and ways to support the agreement on the cessation of hostilities in Syria, with President al-Sisi praising the roles of both Russia and the United States in reaching this agreement," the presidency said. "They also discussed the war on terror, which [they agreed] should not be limited to Syria but extend to Libya and Yemen," the statement added. The two leaders also discussed the possibility of cooperation in fields of power and industry, as well as reviving Russian tourism in Egypt, which received a major blow after the October crash of a Russian flight in Sinai that killed 224 people. A few days after the incident, President Putin suspended all flights to Egypt until the cause of the crash could be determined. At the time of the crash, for which the Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility, Russia had 80,000 of its citizens in Red Sea resorts. In November, the Egyptian government signed an agreement with Russia to build Egypt's first nuclear power plant at Dabaa in Marsa Matrouh governorate, which aims to generate 4,800 megawatts through four units. source: Ahram Online
