Foreign Affairs

Sudan says plan for first Russian naval base in Africa will go ahead

A plan for Russia to establish its first naval base in Africa will go ahead, Sudan’s foreign minister has confirmed, after years of delays over the Red Sea military port.
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Sudan’s military and civilian leaders dragged their feet on moving ahead with the deal due to lingering differences over its terms. The civil war that started in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces further complicated relations between Russia and Sudan, as the Russian-backed Wagner group threw its weight behind the RSF while the Kremlin appeared to back the Sudanese army.

“Russia was playing both sides,” said Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute thinktank and the author of a book on Moscow’s engagements with Africa. Since the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner mercenary group’s leader, the Kremlin had “incrementally” deepened ties with the Sudanese army, Ramani added.

Last April, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, visited Sudan and pledged “uncapped” support for its army. Russia has also backed Sudan at the UN security council, where it vetoed a resolution calling for a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons, a move the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, called a disgrace.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/13/sudan-first-russian-naval-base-in-africa-go-ahead