Russia’s Planned Naval Logistics Base on the Red Sea: Regional Security Implications

Abstract

In 2020, it was announced that Russia signed an agreement with Sudan on the establishment of a naval centre on the Red Sea. While the agreement still has not been ratified by Sudan’s legislative body, which has not been formed, in February 2023 Sudan’s military authorities declared their support for the construction of the Russian naval facility after having reviewed terms of the treaty, which has made the implementation of the project most probable to date. Over the past decade, Moscow has repeatedly demonstrated its desire to obtain naval facilities in the region; this has arguably become a central theme of Russian negotiations with littoral countries. The paper will argue that Russia’s naval presence in the Red Sea and adjacent areas serves the interest of littoral and neighbouring countries in light of Moscow’s historic and contemporary interests, approaches and objectives in the region. The fact that regional powers have already engaged in what has been conceptualized as ‘strategic hedging’ – a geopolitical strategy by which states pursue policies that are in their national interests while not openly antagonizing ‘the hegemon’ – is likely to offer Russia a corresponding window of opportunity.