RUSSIAN WARSHIP ENTERS PORT SUDAN AHEAD OF PLANS TO OPEN NAVAL BASE

Mon 01 March 2021:

A Russian warship, the Admiral Grigorovich frigate, entered the Sudanese port where Russia plans to set up a naval base, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported on Sunday, citing a statement from the Russian fleet.

It was the first Russian warship to enter Port Sudan, Interfax said citing a statement by the Russian fleet.

The naval facility’s capacity will be capped at 300 military and civilian personnel and four ships, including nuclear-powered vessels, according to the details published on the Russian government’s website.

The base will stand on the northern outskirts of Port Sudan.

Russia will also gain the right to transport via Sudan’s ports and airports “weapons, ammunition and equipment” needed for the base to function.

The deal is slated to stand for 25 years — as long as neither party objects to its renewal.

Moscow has in recent years turned its eyes to Africa as it renews its geopolitical clout.

It has wooed Sudan with military and civilian nuclear cooperation, signing a deal between the countries’ armed forces in May 2019 set to last seven years.

During a visit by then-President of Sudan Omar al-Bashir to Moscow in November 2017, agreements were reached on Russia’s assistance in modernizing the Sudanese armed forces.

Khartoum also said at the time it was interested in discussing the issue of using Red Sea bases with Moscow.

In May 2019, a bilateral agreement on military cooperation for a term of seven years came into force. It stipulates, in particular, “an exchange of opinions and information on military and political issues and the issues of strengthening mutual trust and international security, an exchange of the experience of peacekeeping operations under the UN aegis, interaction in the search for and rescue at sea and the development of relations in the troops’ joint training.”