Lavrov Notes Progress Toward Restoring Russia-Egypt Flights

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that progress has been made toward resuming flights between Russia and Egypt suspended following the deadly Sinai crash of a Russian passenger plane as a result of an explosion on board.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia suspended flights to and from Egypt after a Russian Airbus A321 crashed over the Sinai Peninsula soon after taking off from Sharm El-Sheikh on October 31, 2015. Russian security services called the incident that killed all 224 on board the St. Petersburg-bound flight an act of terrorism.

"We regularly consider the issue of resuming direct flights between our countries. Today we have noted positive progress in the work of specialists who are solving the relevant issues and proceed from the premise that there will be additional clarity regarding the prospects for resumed direct flights in the very near future," Lavrov said at a press conference following talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Monday.

The A321 crash became the deadliest air accident in the history of Russian aviation, surpassing the 1985 disaster in Uzbekistan, where 200 people died.

In July, a source close to Russian-Egyptian air safety negotiations told Sputnik that Russia still considers Egypt to be unsafe for Russian tourists.