MOSCOW, January 29. /TASS/. An aviation security agreement between Russia and Egypt has been prepared, Moscow expects Cairo to sign it, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told TASS.

"Initially, we said that there should be a security agreement," he said. "It has been prepared. I believe that Egypt is ready to sign it, otherwise the discussion would not have resumed," Dvorkovich added.

Timeframe for resuming flights

Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sopkolov said earlier that regular flights between Moscow and Cairo could resume in mid-February.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on resuming flights between Russia and Egypt after a two-year-long pause on January 4.

All flights between the two countries were cancelled in November 2015 after the explosion of an A320 jet, belonging to the Russian carrier Metrojet, over the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015, which occurred less than half an hour after takeoff from Sharm el-Sheikh international airport. The blast claimed the lives of all 217 passengers and seven crewmembers. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) later designated the incident as a terrorist attack.

As a precondition for the resumption of flights, Russia called for considerably tightening security measures at Egyptian airports.