Preparations for a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Egypt in the new year are currently ongoing, according to reports by Russian media.

Russia Today said that Russian deputy foreign minister, Michael Bogdanov, had announced Thursday that the visit would take place early next year.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has visited Moscow twice. On his second trip to Moscow in August he invited his Russian counterpart to visit Egypt.

Sergey Vershinin, the Russian foreign minister's special envoy, described Putin's planned visit to Egypt in statements to the Middle East News Agency (MENA) earlier this month as "historic".

Vershinin gave the statements after a meeting with Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukri, where the former confirmed his country's commitment to supporting Egypt in various fields.

Mustafa El-Labbad, director of the Al-Sharq Center for Regional and Strategic Studies, told Ahram Online that Egyptian-Russian relations are improving, as shown by the recent S-300 anti-aircraft missiles deal.

"Russia is looking for new allies in the region, given the situation in Syria and the imminent solution to Iran's nuclear problem," he told Ahram Online.

He described the improving relations between the two countries as a "mutual interest" with Russia's international situation deteriorating after the crisis in Ukraine.

During El-Sisi's two-day visit to Moscow in August, the two heads of state discussed the situation in the Arab world, particularly Syria, Libya and Iraq. They also held extensive talks about Russia's military support for Egypt, according to press statements by the Russian ambassador to Cairo Serge V. Kirpichenko.