Egypt's Sisi, FM to visit Russia for talks
Wednesday's trip will represent al-Sisi's first foreign visit since he was promoted to Field Marshal – the highest rank in the Egyptian military hierarchy – by interim President Adly Mansour late last month.
CAIRO
Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmi will head to Moscow later on Wednesday, according to a statement by an army spokesman.
The two men will head to the Russian capital for separate talks with their respective counterparts – Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov – following the latters' "historic" visit to Cairo last year, army spokesman Ahmed Ali said via Facebook.
Shoigu and Lavrov visited Cairo in November – the first such visit by a Russian defense minister to the Egyptian capital since 1971.
November's visit came amid reports of a $4 billion Russian arms export deal with Egypt, considered the largest Egypt-Russia arms deal since former president Anwar al-Sadat stopped purchasing weapons from Russia in 1977 and tilted towards the US.
Wednesday's trip will represent al-Sisi's first foreign visit since he was promoted to Field Marshal – the highest rank in the Egyptian military hierarchy – by interim President Adly Mansour late last month.
The army chief is widely expected to run for president in upcoming polls, hoping to ride a wave of popular support following the army's ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi last summer.
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