Sudanese leader confirms commitment to deal on Russian military base construction

Sudan is committed to its obligations regarding the construction of a Russian naval base in the country and will implement the agreement, armed forces commander-in-chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said in an interview with Sputnik.

In September, a Sudanese military source told Sputnik that Sudan wanted to amend the agreement on establishing a Russian naval base on the Red Sea coast in order to receive economic assistance from Russia on condition of lease for five years with the possible signing of an agreement for 25 years.

The Sudanese embassy later assured Sputnik that the country was not requesting any payments from Russia, slamming any reports about this as "unfounded." On September 22, Sudanese then-Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Sharif said that the government does not yet have the full authority to sign the military base agreement with Russia, since the country's legislative institutions remain in the making.

"The creation of this base is part of an existing agreement. We keep regularly discussing the matter, and there are some faults that have to be remedied. We are committed to international agreements and will continue to implement them to the end," al-Burhan said.

The Sudanese leader also praised the "long-standing and continuous" military cooperation with Russia.

"We will fully support this, as Russia is always honest in its relations with us and strives to boost cooperation and develop the Sudanese armed forces," al-Burhan concluded.

Sputnik is the first media to interview the Sudanese military leader after recent developments in the country that saw several senior officials detained and the government dissolved. (ANI/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )