Sudan is preparing for the process of ratifying an agreement with Russia on establishing a logistical support point of the Russian Navy on its territory, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday at a press conference following talks with Sudanese Foreign Minister Maryam al-Mahdi.
"We have discussed this issue. We informed that the ratification process has begun in Russia. Parliament is currently on recess, so once it is over, the State Duma will determine the schedule for considering this document. Apparently, it will already be the new composition of the State Duma. Madam Minister said that Sudan is also preparing the start of the ratification process. And it will be done in accordance with the procedures that exist in the Sudanese Parliament for this purpose," Lavrov said.
On July 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted an agreement with Sudan on the creation of a Russian naval logistics center on its territory to the Duma for ratification. The conclusion of this agreement between the countries became known in early December 2020.
The naval logistics point is supposed to be used for repairs, resupply and rest of the crew members of Russian warships. On June 1, Sudan announced a revision of the agreement with Russia to establish a base on the Red Sea. At that time, Lieutenant General Mohammed Usman al-Hussein, Chief of the General Staff, said in an interview to the Sudanese TV channel Blue Nile that Khartoum was negotiating with Moscow to revise the agreement to "consider its interests and benefits". On June 10, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the text of the agreement was subject to change, but Moscow confirmed its interest in cooperating with Khartoum.
Russia-Africa summit
Moscow has briefed the Sudanese side on the steps being taken in preparation for a new Russia-Africa summit, Lavrov said.
"Informed our colleagues how Russia is implementing the agreements reached in October 2019 at the first ever Russia-Africa summit and what steps we plan to take in cooperation with the leadership of the African Union to prepare a new summit between our country and all African Union countries," he said.
The first Russia-Africa summit was held in Sochi on October 23-24, 2019, co-chaired by Russian and Egyptian presidents Vladimir Putin and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. It was attended by representatives from all 54 countries of the continent, 43 of which were represented at the highest level.
National accord
Russia supports the Sudanese leadership's efforts to achieve national accord in the country's transition period, Lavrov said.
"We have confirmed our continued support for the Sudanese leadership's efforts to achieve national accord during the country's transitional period of development and to resolve difficult domestic socio-economic problems," he said.
The minister added that Russia "has consistently advocated the need to start lifting those sanctions, which were imposed by the UN Security Council back in 2004 and which have now, under current conditions, not only lost their meaning, but have become an obstacle to the country's development."
Bilateral committee
Russia and Sudan have agreed to intensify the work of a high-level bilateral committee to monitor agreements, Lavrov said.
"We also agreed to intensify the work of the Russian-Sudanese high-level working committee, chaired by the deputy foreign ministers of the two countries, which monitors the implementation of agreements in all areas of our cooperation," he said.
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Photo: Ramil Sitdikov / POOL / TASS
Based on materials from TASS