MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/. The Russian and Sudanese militaries are holding talks on establishing Russia’s naval base in Sudan and the latest negotiations were held with the participation of a Russian deputy defense minister, Russia’s Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said on Monday.

"This issue should be addressed to our defense officials. They held negotiations and a deputy defense minister paid a visit there," he said, without disclosing the details of negotiations between Russia and Sudan on establishing a Russian naval base in Sudan.

It was reported in early December 2020 that Russia and Sudan had signed a deal on establishing a Russian naval logistics base in Sudan. The naval logistics base is designed for carrying out repairs, replenishing supplies and for the crewmembers of Russian naval ships to have a rest. Under the document, the naval facility’s personnel should not exceed 300 people. Not more than four Russian naval ships may stay at the naval base at a time, the document stipulates.

Sudanese Chief of the General Staff Muhammad Othman al-Hussein said in an interview with the Blue Nile TV channel in June that Sudan was "in the process of revising the agreement signed between the former government of Sudan and Russia on the Russian military project on the coast of the Red Sea in Sudan."