Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi flies to Russia on Tuesday for a two-day visit where he plans to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, announced presidential spokesman Ihab Badawi. 

The visit is El-Sisi's first official trip to Moscow as president. His last trip was defence minister in February where he also met with Putin who wished him luck in the presidential election, before El-Sisi had officially announced that he would run.

Egypt is seen by some analysts as drawing closer to Russia, which has strongly backed the country's transitional road map implemented following last year's ouster of president Mohamed Morsi. Military contracts worth $2 billion were discussed during a visit by Russian officials to Cairo in November 2013 and subsequently during El-Sisi's Moscow trip.

Egypt had strong ties with Russia in the 1950s and 1960s, and the Soviet Union was the main supplier of arms to Egypt until the early 1970s. Relations soured after Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty bringing in some $1.3 billion in annual US military aid to Cairo in 1979.