Russian Red Sea base deal still on the table

13/2/2025 6:07

An agreement signed years ago

for the creation of a Russian naval base in Sudan remains on the

table following talks in Moscow, Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali

Yusef Sharif said in an interview with Russia Today on

Wednesday.



Such a deal has been discussed for years since an agreement

was signed under former President Omar al-Bashir. The army

generals who overthrew him in 2019 said later the plan was under

review, and a base has never materialised.



"In our meeting we did not negotiate the deal ... there was

a deal signed and there is no disagreement," he said, saying

that as before all that remains is the issue of ratification.



"There are no obstacles, we are in complete agreement,"

Sharif had said earlier when asked about the deal, following

talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.



He did not provide any additional details on the plan.



Russia has cultivated ties with both sides in Sudan's almost

two-year-long civil war, and Russian officials have visited the

army's wartime capital of Port Sudan in recent months.



Last year, a top Sudanese general said Russia had asked for

a fuelling station on the Red Sea in exchange for weapons and

ammunition.



Sharif said such a station presented no threat to any other

country or to Sudan's sovereignty, drawing on the example of

nearby Djibouti, which hosts several foreign bases.



Such a station would be beneficial to Russia, particularly

after the fall of Syria's Assad regime put in question key bases

there.



The war in Sudan has drawn in multiple competing regional

and global influences, in part due to its ample Red Sea

coastline, as well as gold resources.