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Russia and Sudan reached an agreement on Moscow establishing a naval base on the Red Sea nation’s coast, Tass said, citing the North African country’s foreign minister.
“We have agreed on everything,” the Russian news service said, quoting Ali Youssef Ahmed al-Sharif.
Moscow has long coveted a foothold on Sudan’s 530-mile (853 kilometer) coastline, and a final agreement would stoke Western concerns over the country’s growing influence in Africa.
A naval base was first mooted during the reign of former Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, though those plans were set back by the eruption of a civil war in Sudan two years ago.
Last year, Sudan’s army said Russia agreed to supply weapons to Khartoum in return for establishing a military fueling station on Sudan’s coast.
Russia has sold the army millions of barrels of fuel, and thousands of weapons and jet components, while Iran has sent shipments of arms and dozens of drones – allowing the military to recapture parts of the capital, Khartoum, and wide swathes of territory across the country from its rival, the Rapid Support Forces militia.
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