Cairo/Moscow — Egypt and Russia plan to finalise on Monday a $30bn deal to build North Africa’s first nuclear power plant as the Kremlin moves to further expand its influence in the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Cairo to meet his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The visit would witness the signing of the deal to build a nuclear plant at El Dabaa after three years of talks, El-Sisi’s spokesman said. The high-profile project will increase Russia’s economic presence and political influence in the region, already on the rise since Putin intervened in Syria’s war in 2015 and began playing a more active role in Libya, conflicts where the Russian leader and El-Sisi see eye to eye. His visit to Cairo comes less than two weeks after the countries said they were in talks to use each other’s military air bases. Russia and Egypt agreed three years ago to begin work on a nuclear power project, with Russia’s state nuclear monopoly Rosatom initially expecting the de...
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