Russia and Sudan established diplomatic relations after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991. Prior to that, the Soviet Union had closely knit ties with the country. Until today, historical evidence clearly shows Russia’s rising interest in Sudan. Looking beyond at examples, a clear pattern emerges in the Central African Republic (CAR) and in the Saharan Sahel region, where Russia is acting strategically—getting involved with its own concrete entrepreneurial interests: to generate revenue. Russia is a leading exporter of military weaponry and equipment and offers training to raise the capability of African troops. It aims at generating revenue, not rendering the service of charity. It is strictly not a bilateral humanitarian aid mechanism of approach either, and of course it could be analyzed in contemporary Russia’s military diplomacy. Across Africa, due to lack of finance, the Francophone countries have ‘bartered their natural resources’ to acquire Russian military technology within the framework of bilateral agreements. Records show Russia has stepped up its ‘military-technical cooperation’ with African countries.
Significant Matters of Concern
In practical terms, there are interrelated issues of bilateral diplomacy with Russia. Besides military-technical cooperation, Russia has exported agricultural produce to over 40 of the 54 countries in Africa during the first half of 2026, the Ministry’s Agroexport Federal Center (AFC) reported in late July. The report, however, showed Algeria and Libya were in the top five. Sudan was the second biggest importer with an 11% share, after Egypt, which is the first leading importer. Worse, Sudan and other African countries claim to participate in shaping a multipolar system when the continent suffers from a weak governance system and institutional infrastructure, in addition to a multitude of development challenges and continent-wide abject poverty among the population estimated at 1.4 billion people.
Experienced local and foreign researchers have consistently questioned Sudan’s sovereignty. Its persistent decades-long ethnic crisis and the sentiments in the race for political power are adversely influencing development. With an internal crisis still in progress, Sudan’s future is highly unpredictable and will engulf itself in Russia’s geopolitical symbolism, the outcome of which experts say could further destabilize conditions in the country and in the entire region. Most probably, here lies contemporary Sudan’s hard-earned political and economic sovereignty:
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Here are significant policy points in Russia-Sudan relations.
*Russia-Sudan Relations Are Strengthening: Bilateral ties have expanded in energy, mining, infrastructure, agriculture, banking, military-technical cooperation, and education, with Sudan participating actively in Russia-Africa summits and preparing for the third summit in October 2026.
*Sudan Sees Russia as a Strategic Partner: Khartoum values Russia’s support for sovereignty, non-interference, and opposition to neocolonialism while seeking Russian technology and investment in exchange for access to Sudanese resources and agricultural products.
*Challenges Persist Amid Conflict: Despite growing cooperation, Sudan faces severe internal instability, poverty, food insecurity, and governance issues, with most of its population unable to afford daily meals, while Russia focuses on military-technical and resource interests in the region.
Sudan’s ambassador to the Russian Federation, Mohammed Eltigani Sirrag, has given an insight into the current Russia-Sudan relations and provided a comprehensive reflection on the landmark achievements over the past few years, which reaffirmed the possibility to raise bilateral ties to more meaningful partnerships in the coming period. With the forthcoming third summit scheduled for October, Sudan’s government delegation to be headed by the president, there are hopes for signing new agreements on energy, trade and investment, food security, and military-technical issues relating to peace and security in the region of the Horn and East Africa.
Long-time Tested Diplomacy with Africa
It has been the outstanding diplomatic posture, to reiterate and underline Moscow’s role in defending the sovereignty of Africa, and on the basis that it supported Africa in its liberation movements, which was followed by training thousands of specialists for the continent. But the Soviet collapse in 1991 witnessed the sudden exit of Russia, and it abandoned an estimated 380 infrastructure projects across Africa. Russia’s return back to Africa took more than two decades, until the first Russia-Africa Summit was held in 2019.
Russia’s struggle to assert its economic landmarks is still fraught with gaps, while its diplomacy of return is full of symbolism and a display of soft power, according to public interpretations. Some experts say Russia is fully satisfied with its huge untapped resources and consequently does not need Africa. With global competition and geopolitical cum market rivalry, Russia has, as a result, shifted from socialism to capitalism. Russia is simply not a charity state or organization. It has, therefore, taken noticeable steps to earn revenue by transferring its technology to Africa; Russia has moved to increase the export of grains, chicken meat, and other agricultural products to Africa and has intensified its military-technical services to African regions, such as the Horn of Africa and the Saharan Sahel region. It has complete access (without local monitoring) to exploiting natural resources in exchange (barter system) for supporting Africa’s peace initiatives under the “Africa’s solutions to Africa’s problems” put forth by the African Union (AU).
The New Russia-Sudanese Outlook
Mohammed Eltigani Sirrag, in an in-depth interview with New Eastern Outlook in July 2026, praised Russia’s contribution to Sudan’s sovereignty and provision of training and education during the Soviet era. Based on the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations between the two, Russia and Sudan, the ambassador expressed the readiness for investment projects and pointed to the growing numbers of Sudanese students in Russia. Due to the political instability, these students, upon completion of their studies, will move on to find ‘greener pastures’ in the United States and Europe. Worse of it, Russia does not attach any preference to retaining Africa’s best talents and these graduates.
With the Russia-Africa Summit as one of the most important mechanisms for renewing aspects of bilateral cooperation between African countries and the Russian Federation, Mohammed Eltigani Sirrag reassured Sudan’s official participation. Sudan participated with a high-level delegation in the first and second summits. “We expect the summit’s outcomes to be significant in advancing bilateral relations between Africa and Russia, on one hand, and between Sudan and Russia, on the other hand. From our perspective, we would like to use Russian technologies in the industrial, economic, and commercial sectors, while the Russian side could benefit from the resources of our country. We are satisfied with the current level of bilateral relations, as we cooperate in various political, economic, trade, and cultural fields,” he told the interviewer, Yuliya Novitskaya, from New Eastern Outlook.
Last September, 2025, the eighth session of the Joint Intergovernmental Committee was held with broad participation from the Sudanese and Russian economic and business sectors. A final protocol was signed, encompassing important projects in the energy, oil, mining, infrastructure, transport, and other sectors that will contribute to the reconstruction phase in Sudan. The Sudanese government is preparing for the summit, and the participation of Sudanese leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has been confirmed. This will provide an opportunity for dialogue and discussion on various topics to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.
According to the report, the interest of Russian companies in investing in Sudan comes from the generally positive and promising atmosphere of bilateral relations. The political leadership in both countries has worked to build solid bridges that have paved the way for interaction between the economic and commercial sectors. During the past few years, records show official visits have been exchanged between Russian and Sudanese companies, and agreements and memoranda of understanding have been signed not only in the agricultural and industrial fields but also in banking, energy, oil, minerals, infrastructure, transportation, and many other spheres.
With regards to the cultural and academic cooperation, that aspect of the bilateral cooperation has taken on a new dimension, as the number of young Sudanese studying in Russian universities and institutes has increased, whether at private expense or as scholarship students. In this context, Mohammed Eltigani Sirrag explained that the Russian government has raised the scholarships for Sudan to 40% in appreciation of the level of bilateral relations, and 140 Sudanese students will be accepted for the academic year 2026-2027, according to what was announced by the Russian side.
In addition to the cultural aspects, Sudan organizes occasional cultural events, exhibitions, and conferences in Russian universities and other cultural centers to deepen the humanitarian and cultural dialogue. For all these, Sudan has been showing great interest in cooperating with Russia in its pursuit for a new global architecture and to confront existing challenges. “We see that there is a shift in the awareness of the new generations on the African continent, as they clearly express their opposition to the neocolonial policy practiced by some Western countries and seek equal relations at all levels,” the Sudanese ambassador emphasized in his July interview. With the current changes in Africa and international transformations, on a wider scale, Sudan strongly believes in Russia’s foreign policy principles—namely, equal sovereignty, respect for mutual interests, and non-interference in the internal affairs of African countries.
Sudan Tackling Existing Challenges
Sudan, currently engulfed in an internal ethnic and political power conflict, shares territorial borders with the Central African Republic, Chad, Libya, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. The decades-old conflict has seriously caused great hardship for the pastoralists of Sudan since the exit of Omar al-Bashir as president. Until today, Sudan’s agricultural output is mostly dedicated to internal consumption. It supplements local production with heavy food imports and donations. As a result of the worst war situation, the World Food Programme released a report on 22 February 2024, saying that more than 95% of Sudan’s population could not afford a meal daily. The population of Sudan was estimated at 49.5 million people in 2025.
Sudan, situated in North Africa, with a coastline bordering the Red Sea, has also become an object for rivalry and competition between global powers, each vying for investment and control of its usage. Rich mineral resources are available in Sudan, and yet the population suffers from abject poverty. It has had troubled relationships with many of its neighbors and much of the international community, owing to what is viewed as its radical Islamic stance. Meanwhile, Russia’s remote aim is to take advantage of its ‘military-technical cooperation’ and earn revenue from the export of its weaponry and military equipment and has, therefore, shown support for the leadership of the Transitional Military Council, headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in Khartoum. According to Mo Ibrahim’s latest governance index, Sudan is at the bottom of the list, the 6th least democratic country in Africa.
*This is part of the forthcoming book: Putin’s African Dream: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities (Third e-handbook).
