Ammon News - BBC - Top officials in Egypt have hailed talks with Russian ministers in Cairo as "historic".

The head of the Egyptian army, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, said the talks signalled the start of a new era of enhanced military co-operation.

There are on-going discussions about a possible arms deal that could be worth as much as $2bn (£1.2bn), though no agreement has been reached.

It is the highest level visit to Egypt by a Russian delegation in years.

It follows the US decision to cut defence aid to Egypt in response to the ousting of President Mohammed Morsi.

But Egypt's Foreign Minister, Nabil Fahmy, insisted that he was not looking for a "substitute for anyone".

Mr Fahmy said Russia had too much leverage to be an alternative to someone else.