Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin Reuters)
Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi spoke with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in a telephone call on Wednesday where both leaders discussed cooperation in fighting terrorism, the Egyptian presidency announced.
The two presidents agreed during the call on the importance of increasing international cooperation against terrorism, according to Alaa Youssef, the Egyptian presidency spokesperson.
Both leaders also discussed bilateral relations between Egypt and Russia.
During the call, El-Sisi expressed Egypt's condolences and understanding of the pain the Russian people are feeling following the crash of a Russian plane in Sinai in late October that killed all 224 passengers and staff.
El-Sisi also added that Egyptian authorities were cooperating with the Russian side during all stages of the investigations.
The call between El-Sisi and Putin comes 24 hours following an announcement by the Russian government saying that the plane crash in Sinai was as a result of a terrorist attack.
Egypt's government announced on Tuesday that the Egyptian-led investigation team had not found anything yet to indicate that terrorist activity caused the crash.
However, the investigation team iterated that it would take in consideration the Russian statement, the Egyptian government added.
Following the crash in late October President Putin -- on the recommendation of the head of the Russian FSB security service -- ordered the suspension of all Russian passenger flights to Egypt until the exact cause of the crash is known.
Short link: