Sudanese Authorities Lack Mandate To Sign Naval Base Agreement With Russia - Minister

Sudan does not yet have the full authority to sign an agreement with Russia on a military base, since the country's legislative institutions remain in the making, Sudanese Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Sharif said on Wednesda

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2021) Sudan does not yet have the full authority to sign an agreement with Russia on a military base, since the country's legislative institutions remain in the making, Sudanese Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Sharif said on Wednesday.

"(In negotiations with the Russian Foreign Ministry), we also raised the problem of military cooperation ... However, we have not yet fully formed legislative bodies in Sudan to have enough power to sign such an agreement. The Sovereign Council has approved this document," Sharif stated at a press conference in the Rossiya Segodnya information center in Moscow.

He said that "this issue will be coordinated between the military of both states.

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A Sudanese military source has told Sputnik that Sudan wanted to amend the agreement establishing a Russian naval base in Port Sudan 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 assured Sputnik that the country was not requesting any payments from Russia, slamming any reports about this as "unfounded."

The Sovereign Council of Sudan, created shortly after the military coup in 2019, is supposed to serve as the country's leadership for 39 months.