CAIRO, Nov. 17 (Aswat Masriya) - Russia said the plane carrying mostly Russian passengers that crashed in the Sinai desert was brought down by "a terrorist act" after top defence and security officials discussed the final results of an investigation into the cause of the crash with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin led a meeting late Monday in which Federal Security Service Cheif Alexander Bortnikov said an examination of passengers' belongings, luggage and of fragments of the crash revealed that there were traces of "foreign-made explosives," the Kremlin said in a statement on Tuesday.

"We can say with confidence that this was a terrorist act," he said.

The Egyptian side has yet to respond to the Russian announcement, but state-run Al-Ahram news service said the Egyptian Cabinet will release a statement shortly.

The Russian revelation of the final results of an investigation seems to contravene with another investigation which Egypt is leading.

Egypt has repeatedly said that the cause of the plane crash cannot be concluded until the Egypt-led international committee finalizes its investigation and has cautioned against making speculations.

On the perpetrators of the plane crash, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the meeting, "... we need to know all their names. We will search wherever they may be hiding. We will find them anywhere on the planet and punish them."

"Whoever tries to help the perpetrators ought to know that they would bear full responsibility for any attempts to harbour them," the Russian president said. Russia is offering a $50 million bounty for any information that could lead to the perpetrators.

Putin said Russia will invoke the right to self defence stated in the UN Charter Article 51. The article stipulates the "inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations."

The article says that states must report to the UN Security Council measures they will take to defend themselves, but that the council retains the right to take any measures it deems necessary to maintain or restore international peace.

Putin also said, "our aviation should not simply continue military operations in Syria, but enhance them so as to make it clear to the criminals that vengeance is inevitable."

In September, Russia launched airstrikes on targets in Syria using the Syrian airfield Hmeymim. Russia says it has targeted Islamic State fighters but major Western powers have been openly critical of the Russian attack. 

The Russian announcement comes one day after the meeting of Egypt's national defence council, which was chaired by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. At the top of their agenda was a discussion of efforts to fight terrorism inside and outside Egypt, state media reported on Monday.  

The Sinai-based affiliate of the Islamic State Fighters in Iraq and Syria, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis claimed responsibility for the crash twice.

While initially, the group's claims were dismissed, they were eventually taken more seriously as major Western state started backing the theory that the plane could have been brought down  by a bomb. Both the U.S. and the UK entertained this possibility.

Earlier in November, the U.K. halted all flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh and Russia suspended all flights to Egypt before banning EgyptAir flights from entering Moscow.

Egyptian authorities have urged local and international media not to jump to conclusions until the international committee tasked with investigating the incident announces the results, just as the local media cried foul, claiming that Egypt is facing a massive Western conspiracy to scare off tourists and bring the economy to its knees.