Putin is losing his foothold in Africa. The civil war in Sudan is paralyzing the Kremlin's plans

Russia's plan to build a naval base in Port Sudan, Sudan, the first in Africa since the Soviet Union, has stalled due to the country's ongoing civil war.

This was admitted by the Russian ambassador to Sudan, Andrei Chernovol, quoted by the independent website Moscow Times, who said that progress on taking over the port “is suspended due to the deteriorating internal security in Sudan.”

Although Khartoum has not issued an official statement, according to the British think tank Progress Center for Policies, specializing in Arab and Middle Eastern problems, this decision was made personally by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of the Sovereign Council, i.e. the interim government of Sudan.

Burhan wants to use this suspension of talks with Russia as a bargaining chip in contacts with the United States to promote himself as a more important player in their eyes than his rival in the civil war, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who heads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

According to the Italian website Agenzianova, this suggestion is reinforced by the talks held by Burhan and his ministers with Washington regarding the creation of an American military base on the Red Sea coast and the establishment of intelligence cooperation with Israel, and ultimately the opening of an Israeli embassy in Khartoum. In return, Sudan expects the United States to convince the United Arab Emirates to stop supplying weapons to the Rapid Support Forces and designate it a terrorist organization.

Russia was very close to settling on the Red Sea. In 2020, just before the outbreak of the conflict in Sudan, which turned into the bloodiest war in African history, Russia reached an agreement with its then authorities, which initially allowed it to build a logistics center in Port Sudan for up to four warships and 300 soldiers. It was supposed to be the Kremlin's first permanent naval bridgehead in Africa since the fall of the USSR. But the agreement was never ratified.

The base, located on the Red Sea, would provide Russia with a strategic observation point over one of the busiest sea lanes in the world – the Suez Canal corridor, which, although temporarily in crisis due to the recent Iran-Israel war and attacks by Yemen's Houthis, still serves about 10 percent of world trade. (PAP)

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