Egypt: Putin congratulates Sissi on his "convincing" victory

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday hailed the "convincing" victory of his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, who was unsurprisingly re-elected for a third term with 89.6% of the vote.

"The convincing victory in the elections has become clear proof of the global recognition of your merits in resolving the socio-economic and foreign policy tasks in Egypt," he wrote in a statement.

Vladimir Putin praised President al-Sissi's "contribution" to the rapprochement between their respective countries, reaffirming his desire to "continue working together". Relations between Egypt and Russia have strengthened considerably in recent years.

In October 2018, Mr Sissi, whose country has long been a major ally of the United States, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Vladimir Putin.

However, the countries had gone through a phase of tensions due to the explosion of a Russian plane after it took off from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in 2015. The attack, which killed 224 people, was claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State.

In November 2015, they reached an initial agreement to build Egypt's first nuclear power station, which is currently underway. Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, 69, will begin his new term in April, which is supposed to be his last under the Egyptian Constitution.

The result of the election was largely predictable, as the former leader of the country, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, is expected to remain in office for the rest of his term.