Russia's Putin visits Egypt on Monday

Cairo (dpa) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will start an official visit to Egypt on Monday, a presidential official has said.Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and his Russian counterpart will hold talks on boosting bilateral cooperation and discussing regional issues of mutual interest, Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Radi added in a statement on Thursday."The visit comes within the framework of the two countries‘ commitment to strengthening the historic and strategic relations between them." The official did not say how long Putin‘s visit will last.After taking office in 2014, al-Sissi showed keenness in enhancing links with Russia. Egypt‘s relations with the United States waned following the army‘s 2013 ouster of Egypt‘s Islamist former president Mohammed Morsi.Putin visited Egypt in February 2015. Six months later, al-Sissi met with Putin in Moscow.Russia has halted its flights to Egypt since October 2015 when a Russian passenger plane crashed in the volatile Sinai Peninsula killing all 224 people on board.The downing was claimed by the Islamic State extremist militia. The Russian move has hurt Egypt‘s ailing tourism, a main source of national income.Russia is building Egypt‘s first nuclear power plant in the northern area of El Dabaa.