Egyptian ambassador to Russia hopeful Russian aircraft flights to Egypt will be resumed

Egypt's ambassador to Russia Mohammed el Badri has expressed hope that flights to Russian aircraft to Egypt will be resumed. He was speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, the TASS reported.

The diplomat reiterated his deep condolences "on behalf of the Egyptians, Egypt’s leadership, the government to the Russian society, above all, relatives of the victims of the Russian plane crash."

"In spite of this, we are deeply convinced that that was an isolated and unexpected incident. At the same time, we are, of course, filled with sorrow," Badri noted. "We hope that we will overcome the aftermath of this problem, as tourism is a very important sector of our economic relations, and this will not affect our overall relationship."

"There is a ban on the flights of Russian aircraft to Egypt," the ambassador said. "I would like to say that negotiations and discussions between Egypt and Russia have not stopped. Contacts continue to exist. We are discussing, talking about the possibility of overcoming this problem. We hope that these efforts will lead to a reasonable resolution of the issue, to the resumption of the flights of the Russian aircraft to Egypt."

"We are saddened at the fact Russians do not come to us. The Egyptians are watching this phenomenon with great sadness," Badri said. "We are working seriously to restore our relations."