CAIRO, Nov. 8 (Aswat Masriya) - Russian aviation authorities and security services will check Egyptian airports and "make recommendations," the Russian deputy prime minister told Russian news agency Interfax on Sunday.

The announcement comes on the heels of a Russian decision on Friday to suspend all flights to Egypt, and a UK decision to halt all flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, an Egyptian resort city on the Red Sea one week after a Russian passenger plane crashed in Sinai 23 minutes after taking off from Sharm airport.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke over the phone on Friday after the Russian decision to halt flights and agreed that "these actions are aimed toward ensuring the overall efficacy of security measures taken by the Egyptian authorities at the nation’s airports."

The two agreed that "two nations’ corresponding agencies" will "maintain active cooperation" and agreed "resumption of flights as soon as possible." 

Russia Interfax reported that Russia is "considering possible delivery of Antey-2500 air defense systems to Egypt," citing Sergey Chemezov, the CEO of Rostec, a Russian state firm that produces industrial products military and industrial sectors.

The state of Egyptian aviation safety has come under scrutiny after the plane crashed in the Sinai desert on October 31, especially in international media reports, with a recent news story by the British MailOnline reporting on an incident that dates back to August. 

The news website, which belongs to British tabloid The Daily Mail, said on November 6, that a British plane carrying 189 passengers "dodged" a rocket which came within 1,000 feet of it as it approached Sharm el-Sheikh.

According to MailOnline, the pilot had to take evasive action after he saw the rocket, in what the Egyptian Foreign Ministry described as "preposterous allegations."

Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said on his official Twitter feed the reports are "completely inaccurate" and that the incident only involved ground-to-ground "fire exercise in military base" a few kilometres from Sharm airport.

He denied that there was any ground-to-air firing and said the plane "was in no danger." 

Airliners were previously notified of the military exercise and instructed with procedures, Abu Zeid added. 

Since the crash of the Russian civilian flight that took off from Sharm airport, much has been said about Egyptian airport security as well.

In an analysis of the potential cause of the crash on Nov. 2, global intelligence firm Stratfor said the resort city airport has a "particularly poor" state of security.

However, international reports on the matter surged after the U.S. and the UK entertained the possibility that the plane crash was caused by a bomb. Headlines ran stories on bribes that people paid security personnel in airports to go avoid security checks and jump queues.   

U.S. and UK statements on the possibility that the plane was downed by a bomb were described as "premature" by Egyptian officials since the Egypt-led investigation is not yet complete.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday that the UK has based its statements on intelligence. 

But Ayman al-Moqadem, a pilot and the head of the Egypt-led committee investigating the crash said on Saturday "we are willing to receive information" from any party willing to provide it. He said the committee has so far not received any such information supporting media reports that are citing intelligence.

"We have still not collected all the information that will be used to make an analysis," Moqadem said, adding that all "scenarios are on the table."

Egypt's foreign minister said on Saturday states that have announced that the Russian plane crash was caused by a bomb have not shared information in detail with Egyptian security apparatus.