Russia had earlier this year announced that it would intensify military co-operation with Sudan, planning to build a naval base in the Red Sea.

Despite the Russian plans, the Sudanese government was not interested in intensifying military cooperation with Russia, so it first stopped works on the construction of the Russian naval base, to continue with the ban on the use of Sudanese territorial waters for Russian military ships. This, even if Russian ships do not intend to anchor in Sudan ports but are only in transit.