Egyptian Ambassador to Russia Ihab Nasr expects that charter flights between Russia and Egyptian resorts will restart in full before the end of this year.

"The Russian and Egyptian presidents met in Sochi. They announced an agreement to shortly restart in full flights between Russia and Egypt. Within the next few weeks or months - nobody knows. I would like to once again cite the Russian president as saying ‘in the near future’," the ambassador said in reply to questions about the timeframe.

"We are working hard to translate into life the agreements of the two presidents. I hope we will see good results shortly," Ihab Nasr added. He said preparations for reopening the flights were at the finishing stage from the technical point of view. "I hope shortly, maybe even before the end of the year, I hope very much," the ambassador added.

Earlier, President Vladimir Putin told a session of the Valdai Discussion Club that he hoped charter flights to Egyptian resorts would be reopened shortly. He said restarting charter flights to Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada was on the agenda. Putin said he had discussed the issue with Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, confirming that flights to these airports could be launched shortly.