Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Ministerr Nabil Fahmy left to Moscow on Wednesday for an official visit, according to a Facebook statement by Army Spokesperson Ahmed Mohamed Ali.
He said both officials will convene in separate meetings with their Russian counterparts to discuss bilateral relations and cooperation. He noted that the visit comes in response to an earlier visits by the Russian ministers to Cairo back in November.
Cairo has sought closer ties and enhanced cooperation with Russia following tensions with the United States after suspending a large portion of its financial aid to Cairo in protest after the army's violent disperals of Rabaa al-Adaweya and Nahda squares in 2013, in which almost 600 mostly unarmed protesters were killed.
Russia will reportedly provide Egypt with defense systems and arms worth US$1 billion by mid 2014, a debt to be financed by Gulf kingdoms Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
