Agencies
The Sudanese leadership received a moral and diplomatic boost from the visit of the Deputy Foreign Minister and Russian President’s envoy to the Middle East and Africa, Mikhail Bogdanov, to Port Sudan, and his declaration of his country’s support for Sudan’s sovereignty and existing legitimacy, and his rejection of foreign interference in its affairs and plans to tear it apart.
The Russian envoy’s visit comes days after he held talks with the Director General of the Sudanese General Intelligence Service, Ahmed Ibrahim Mufaddal, in Moscow.
Observers believe that the visit comes within the framework of Moscow’s efforts to strengthen its presence on the African continent, while others express their fears that the country will become an arena for conflict between Russia and Ukraine on the one hand, and a center of attraction between Western countries and Moscow on the other hand.
The Minister of Minerals praises the relations between Sudan and Russia. Source: Sudanese News Agency
Bogdanov (left) discusses expanding Russian investment in mineral production with Minister Muhammad Bashir Abu Nammu (Sudan News Agency)
Political and economic support
During their two-day official visit, Bogdanov and his entourage from the Ministries of Defense and Minerals held separate meetings with the Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the Council member and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Shams al-Din Kabbashi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hussein Awad, and the Minister of Minerals, Muhammad Bashir Abu Nammu.
The two sides discussed exchanging political support, military and economic cooperation, and expanding Russian investment in mineral production, especially gold.
The official Sudanese News Agency reported that Kabbashi praised “Russia’s positions in support of Sudanese legitimacy,” and stressed Sudan’s openness to all bloodshed initiatives, but “within the framework of Sudanese legitimacy and vision, which guarantees and preserves the full rights of the Sudanese people,” stressing that “all attempts by lurkers “Sudan’s interests, sovereignty and stability are doomed to failure.”
During his meeting with Sudanese Foreign Minister Awad Hussein, Bogdanov said that both Russia and Sudan have an embassy and an accredited ambassador who performs his duties normally in the other country, “which confirms the distinguished relations between the two countries.” He continued, “Russia considers the Transitional Sovereignty Council the legitimate representative of the Sudanese people.”
Hussein explained that the Russian envoy “denounced the claims based on equality between the legitimacy of the Sudanese state and the rebellion,” referring to the Rapid Support Forces, and affirmed Russia’s support for Sudan “in the face of everything that might threaten its sovereignty and the interests of its people.” It also rejects “foreign interventions in Sudan and plans to tear it apart.” “.
The Russian official criticized the approach of Western powers, “which believe that they alone control international affairs and determine the destinies of peoples,” and gave an example of this with what he described as “the conferences they organize on the issues of independent countries without their participation, as happened in the Paris Conference,” which France organized on 15 This April, in cooperation with Germany and the European Union to support the humanitarian response in Sudan.
When French President Emmanuel Macron was asked why the Sudanese government was not invited to attend the conference, he replied that “because of Al-Burhan’s coup in October 2021 against civilians and blocking the path to democratic transformation,” which observers considered a questioning of the government’s legitimacy.
A Russian Navy ship in a Sudanese port (French)
Gold and influence
The researcher in Russian-Sudanese relations, Issam Salah El-Din, believes that interests and maneuvers are behind the rapprochement between the two countries, as the Sudanese leadership seeks military cooperation that strengthens its position in the war with the Rapid Support Forces, as the majority of its weapons, especially fighter aircraft, are Russian, and it also works to reduce Western pressures by sending messages that it can To proceed in alliance with capitals hostile to Western countries.
The researcher explains to Al Jazeera Net that intelligence information and Western reports talked about Russia strengthening its economic position with gold smuggled from Sudan, before launching its war on Ukraine, which prevented its economy from collapsing after the Western sanctions imposed on it, and it is likely that it will expand investment in gold by increasing the number of its companies operating in Sudan. .
Essam El-Din adds that Moscow is also seeking to strengthen its influence in Africa after it penetrated the former French colonies, and Sudan’s geopolitical location, which is open to the African coast, the Horn of Africa, and the Red Sea, represents a source of interest and competition among many major countries.
Between Moscow and Kiev
Observers express their fears that Sudan will turn into a battlefield between Moscow and Kiev, after the Russian “Wagner” group was supporting the Rapid Support Forces, training its fighters, and supplying them with weapons, while Western reports revealed that Ukrainian military intelligence is supporting the Sudanese army, and Ukrainian special forces carried out operations against officers from ” Wagner” in Sudan.
The American Wall Street Journal said that the Ukrainian special forces aim to undermine Russian military and economic operations abroad, and raise the cost of the war on Moscow.
On the other hand, last week, the Ukrainian ambassador residing in Cairo, Mykola Nahorny, presented a copy of his credentials to the Sudanese Foreign Minister-designate, who is also his country’s ambassador and also residing in Cairo. Mykola announced that Ukraine will open a temporary embassy in Port Sudan during the next few months.
Facing west
Recent years have witnessed a revival of the Russian role in the African continent, as Moscow strengthens its presence coinciding with the decline of French military influence on the continent.