Date: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
The agreement would see the establishment of a Russian naval base in the Red Sea's Port Sudan, or another facility, that would house 300 personnel and dock up to four naval vessels, including nuclear-powered ones, according to Sudanese officials speaking to The Wall Street Journal.
Russia's government would also win mining concessions in Sudan, while Sudan's military would, in return, get access to anti-aircraft systems as well as other military hardware at preferential prices.
Military officials said the equipment is needed for the war against the RSF, with bloody fighting between the two sides ongoing since April 2023 with tens of thousands of civlians killed in the process.
The reported agreement comes five years after a near-identical deal was announced by Russia, outlining the 25-year operation of a naval base that would host 300 personnel and up to four vessels, including nuclear-powered vessels, at any one time.
This agreement also stipulated automatic renewals every 10 years if neither side had objections, but the overthrow of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir saw the new military ruling council put the agreement under review.
The renewed courting by Sudan's government of Russia comes after the RSF captured Darfur's capital El-Fasher in late October, solidifying control over most of western Sudan.
The fall of El-Fasher led to a massacre of civilians fleeing the city, many of whom are now in neighbouring Tawila, by the RSF.
As well as gains in Darfur, the RSF on Monday said it took control over the transport junction of Babanusa in West Kordofan, although the claim has been denied by the Sudanese army.
Kordofan's provinces have been the subject of fierce fighting since the army took control over the capital city, Khartoum, and neighbouring Omdurman earlier this year.
At least 150,000 people are estimated to have been killed in Sudan's civil war, which has drawn in involvement from several international actors, inlcuding the UAE on the side of the RSF, and Egypt and Turkey in support of the government. Russia had been previously been supporting the RSF in the war
