Russia signed an agreement for a naval base in Sudan for 25 years.
Image Credit: Alexei Druzhinin/AFP via Getty Images.
On Tuesday, Russia announced that it signed an agreement with Sudan to have a naval base for at least 25 years in Port Sudan. This would help Russia’s efforts to expand its influence in Africa, while maintaining a presence in the Red Sea. The documents have revealed that Russia may keep up to four ships, which includes nuclear-powered ones, at the naval base at any time. Russia can use Sudanese ports to deliver any needed weapons and military equipment, and the Russian personnel in the base is capped at 300 men. The agreement can be automatically renewed for another 10 years, if there is no disagreement between the countries.
According to the document, the Russia naval base will help Sudan to, ‘Help Strengthen peace and stability in the Region.’ In exchange for the naval base Sudan will get weapons and military equipment. Russian forces will also train Sudanese troops. This comes as no surprise, as last year Russia and Sudan signed a 7-year military agreement for military support. The deal has been initially proposed in 2017, but it was not until last November when a formal deal emerged.
Russia also has 5 other African countries where it will be having a military base. These are; Central African Republic, Eritrea, Egypt, Mozambique and Madagascar. This information was leaked for a Foreign Ministry’s document. Russia is a major arms supplier to Africa. In fact, it supplies 37.6% of Africa’s arms market, while United States supplies 16% of Africa’s weapons market. Algeria is known to be the biggest purchaser of Russian weapons in Africa, followed by Egypt and than Sudan.
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