Egypt’s armed forces and their Russian counterparts held a joint military exercise on Egyptian soil for the first time in history. The exercises which started on the 15th of October where scheduled to end today. Some 800 servicemen from both countries participated in the drills, along with 10 armored vehicles and 15 helicopters and military jets.
Russia’s Izvestia newspaper said Moscow was discussing with Cairo the option of opening an air base in Egypt, even though the country’s official Al Ahram newspaper quoted the Egyptian presidential spokesman as saying it would not allow foreign bases on its land. Egypt is currently negotiating with Russia to restore flights to its Red Sea resorts, a year after the bombing of a Russian airliner carrying holidaymakers back to St. Petersburg.