Sudan’s military authorities have offered Russia a 25-year cooperation agreement that would allow Moscow to establish a military base on the Red Sea coast in exchange for weapons, according to The Moscow Times on December 1.
The proposed deal, which Sudanese officials communicated to The Wall Street Journal and which The Moscow Times cited, would permit Russia to deploy up to 300 service personnel and station as many as four warships, “including nuclear-powered ones,” at a facility to be built either in Port Sudan or at another, as yet unnamed, location on the Red Sea, the outlet reported.
From Port Sudan, Russian forces would be able to monitor shipping to and from the Suez Canal, described as the shortest sea route between Europe and Asia and a corridor that carries around 12% of global trade.
The draft agreement submitted to Moscow in October also foresees giving the Kremlin access to mining concessions in Sudan, which The Moscow Times said is the third-largest gold producer in Africa.
In return for the long-term use of Sudanese territory, Russia is expected to supply the country’s embattled military regime with advanced air defense systems and other weaponry at preferential prices as it fights rebel forces from the Rapid Support Forces, Sudanese officials told the newspaper.
The Moscow Times also added that the Kremlin has been pursuing a formal presence in Port Sudan for about five years, culminating in a 2020 intergovernmental agreement between Moscow and Khartoum.
Under that deal, Sudan authorized the creation of a logistics support point for the Russian Navy that would have hosted up to four Russian ships and 300 personnel and allowed Russia to bring weapons, equipment, air defense and electronic warfare systems into the facility.
Earlier, it was reported that Sudan reopened negotiations with Russia to obtain Su-30 or Su-35 fighter jets as part of a potential geopolitical barter that could also grant Moscow a long-sought naval foothold on the Red Sea.
