Russia's Putin lands in Egypt in sign of growing ties

Cairo - Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Cairo for talks with his Egyptian counterpart on their two countries' rapidly expanding ties.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who has visited Russia three times since 2014, gave Putin an official reception at Cairo's airport Monday. It's the Russian president's second visit to Egypt since 2015.

Putin stopped earlier in the day at a Russian military air base in Syria.

Since taking office in 2014, el-Sissi has bought billions of dollars' worth of Russian weapons, including fighter jets and assault helicopters.

Russia and Egypt are also negotiating the construction by a Russian company of Egypt's first nuclear reactor.

Last month, Russia approved a draft agreement with Egypt to allow Russian warplanes to use Egyptian military bases — a sign of Russia's growing Mideast footprint.