Russia establishes a new naval base on the Sudanese Red Sea coast
The Russian naval base in Sudan opens a long-term gateway to the Red Sea, after Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin agreed last month to establish a new naval base on the Sudanese Red Sea coast.
Official Kremlin statements described the facility as a logistics hub that would be defensive in nature - for its primary use as a resupply station for Russia. Warships.
Despite these assertions, Russian media described the base as Moscow's gateway to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, which has expanded the reach of its naval forces, said Samuel Ramani, a political analyst at International Politics.
The terms of the base agreement, released on December 8, appear to support this latter view: In exchange for military assistance, Sudan would allow Russia to keep its facility in Port Sudan for at least 25 years - allowing it to consolidate its influence in maritime theaters.
The Center for International Studies said the new naval base is the culmination of decades of close ties between Moscow and Khartoum.
Former dictator Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan for nearly three decades after the overthrow of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi in a coup in 1989, has forged deeper ties with Russia.
Although Russia supported a 2005 UN ban on arms exports to the parties to the brutal civil war in Darfur.
Moscow shipped T-72 tanks, grenade launchers and small arms to Sudan in 2008.
In a meeting held in November 2017 with Russian President Vladimir, Bashir and Putin accused the United States of supporting rebel forces in Darfur and urged Russia to protect Sudan from supposed US aggression, claiming that Sudan could be "Russia's key to Africa."
This meeting resulted in preliminary negotiations on the establishment of a Russian naval base in Sudan.
Although Russia supported a 2005 UN ban on arms exports to the parties to the brutal civil war in Darfur - Moscow shipped T-72 tanks, grenade launchers and small arms to Sudan in 2008.
