CAIRO - Russia is ready in principle to resume direct passenger flights to Egypt and an agreement is expected to be signed in the near future, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday.

(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova and Jack Stubbs; Writing by Polina Nikolskaya; Editing by Andrew Osborn) ((Polina.Nikolskaya@thomsonreuters.com;))