President Sisi of Egypt and President Putin of Russia met in China in September Getty ImagesRussia and Egypt are in talks over a deal that would allow them to use each other’s airspace and airbases, further expanding the Kremlin’s interest in the Middle East and North Africa. A draft five-year agreement was outlined today in a decree signed by Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, who ordered the defence and foreign ministries to conduct talks with Egyptian officials and sign a deal. Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minster, was in Cairo yesterday to discuss arms deals and defence cooperation with Egypt’s political and miltary leadership. Moscow and Cairo signed a $3.5 billion deal in 2014 under which Russia would supply Egypt with artillery, air defence weapons, light arms and aircraft. A first batch of MiG 29 aircraft were delivered earlier this…

Source: The Times November 30, 2017 12:11 UTC