Russia Uses Red Sea Coast Legally - Sudanese Former Official

Russia Uses Red Sea Coast Legally - Sudanese Former Official

Russia legally uses the Sudanese coastline of the Red Sea for military purposes, Sudan's former head of military court Najm ad-Din Uthman said in an interview with Sputnik

KHARTOUM (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th March, 2021) Russia legally uses the Sudanese coastline of the Red Sea for military purposes, Sudan's former head of military court Najm ad-Din Uthman said in an interview with Sputnik.

"The presence of Russian ships, in particular, is legal in compliance with the agreement signed in 2018. This treaty has articles concerning the dislocation on the Red Sea coast agreed upon between Sudan and Russia which is called "logistic support center", Uthman said.

He added that the Russian-Sudanese consultations started in 2017 leading to the signing of 25-year agreement that obliges Moscow to� provide Khartoum with benefits such as training Sudan's navy forces as well as securing Sudanese lands, coastline and air.

In addition, a high-ranking source in the government of Sudan's Red Sea state told Sputnik that Russia had the opportunity to build a military base under the regime of Omar al-Bashir, however, "now the United States has entered as a competitor".

In late 2020 Moscow and Khartoum announced the creation of Russia's military logistic base in Port-Sudan, the biggest Sudanese seaport in the Red Sea. On Sunday, February 28, the Russian frigate "Admiral Grigorovitch" entered the seaport of Port-Sudan under the terms of the military cooperation between both countries. The day after, the US destroyer "USS Winston S. Churchill" arrived in the port as a gesture of US support to Sudan's transitional government.