Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced early Tuesday that his government had inked a memorandum of understanding with Moscow to jointly construct Egypt’s first nuclear plant, according to multiple reports.

The deal was announced following a meeting between al-Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was in Cairo for meetings about boosting ties between the two nations, particularly on the security front.

The high-level meeting between the two leaders comes as U.S. relations with both countries continue to cool. Egypt has increasingly relied on Russia for military and security hardware since the Obama administration scaled back its historic cooperation following the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi.

The nuclear announcement also comes just weeks after Russia agreed to help Iran build several new nuclear reactors.