Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will discuss restoring flight connections between the resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada, and Russian airports during the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi on October 23-24, the Egyptian Embassy in Russia told Izvestia. This reported by TASS.

The diplomatic mission noted that they were very optimistic about the negotiations between the two leaders, and that there was great hope that flights would be resumed after their meeting. Also, a source in Russian diplomatic circles confirmed that this issue would be resolved in the very near future.

We are very optimistic about the upcoming talks between the two leaders. The latest review committee confirmed that everything in Egypt was going well. This offers hope that during the meeting a positive decision will be made on this issue. On the Egyptian side, all conditions have been met," the embassy emphasized.

A Russian diplomatic source confirmed to the newspaper that air traffic could be restored in the very near future. According to him, now the relevant departments of both countries are hammering out the details of the future agreement.

Vice President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Yury Barzykin told Izvestia that once the top-level decision is made, it would take only about a month to completely restore air routes from Russian cities. "Another question is that tourist plans for the autumn-winter period are already set in place. But I think this will not be a big problem, planes will be re-routed, demand for Egypt is still there, and it is high," the expert noted.

The Russia-Africa Summit, according to Izvestia, might launch Moscow’s triumphant return to the region, and continue Russia’s shift towards the east. In 2018, trade between Russia and the African continent grew by 17% and reached $20.4 bln.