TEHRAN, December 11- Russian President Vladimir Putin met Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on Monday for talks over a nuclear power plant and tensions in the Middle East following Washington's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's ‘capital’.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Putin's visit to Cairo reflects the deepening ties between Russia and Egypt, the second largest recipient of U.S. military aid after Israel and a strategic U.S. partner in the Middle East because of its control of the Suez Canal.
Putin, who is due to fly to Turkey after Cairo, briefly visited a Russian base in Syria before arriving in Egypt and ordered Russian forces to start withdrawing from Syria after a two-year military campaign.
During the visit, Egypt and Russia signed an agreement to start work on Egypt's Dabaa nuclear power plant, state television showed.
They were also to discuss the resumption of Russian flights to Egypt as soon as possible, a presidential spokesman told MENA state news agency.
Moscow halted civilian air traffic to Egypt in 2015 after militants bombed a Russian Metrojet flight leaving from the tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing 224 people onboard.
Russian state nuclear company Rosatom said on Monday the Dabaa nuclear station it will build in Egypt will have four reactors and cost up to $21 billion with construction expected to finish in 2028-2029.
Moscow and Cairo signed an initial agreement in 2015 for Russia to build the plant, with Russia extending a loan to Egypt to cover the cost of construction.
Source: Reuters
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