
US–Russia flashpoint looms over Putin's plans for African naval base
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "We encourage all countries, including Sudan, to avoid any transactions with Russia's defense sector."
The Kremlin appears to be desperate to join the Horn of Africa global powers "naval club," with its approved plans for a base for warships and nuclear-powered submarines at Port Sudan. This is not far down the Indian Ocean coast from Djibouti, where there are U.S. and Chinese bases. With the new Syrian government likely to kick the Russians out of their base in Tartus, Port Sudan would be Russia's only foreign naval base.
"Moscow views Sudan, because of its strategic location, as a logical place to expand Russia's footprint into Africa, which Putin views as a key place of geopolitical confrontation with the United States and China," Rebekah Koffler, a strategic military intelligence analyst, told Fox News Digital.
"Russia views the U.S. and China as its top adversaries, with whom Moscow may in the long-term have a kinetic conflict. Hence, Putin wants intelligence and military capabilities stationed close to the U.S. Djibouti base and Chinese facilities," she said.
"Given that the U.S. and China already have [a] naval presence off of the Horn of Africa," Koffler added, "Russia is looking at Port Sudan as a logistics hub for weapons transfers, storage of military hardware ammunition, all sorts of war-fighting capabilities."
"The potential Russian naval logistics facility in Sudan would support Russian power projection in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean," John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), told Fox News Digital. He added that "this issue has gained greater importance for Moscow, given the uncertainty over the future of its Tartus naval logistics facility."
A Russian naval base in the Indian Ocean has strategic military implications — it's a relatively short sailing distance to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, a choke point through which an estimated 12% of the world's shipping passes, while 61% of global oil tanker traffic is also said to use the canal. Koffler said this poses a significant security threat.
"If Russia perceives an impending escalation against Russia, let's say in Ukraine — such as an impending deployment of NATO forces or draconian economic measures designed to tank [the] Russian economy — I would not rule out the possibility that Putin could authorize something disruptive to exploit the choke point and destabilize or disrupt global shipping, as a way of deterring Western actions threatening Russia."
The deal permitting Moscow to build a military base has been given the green light, although there are serious logistical challenges involved. "The agreement between Sudan and Russia was finalized in February, following a meeting between Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Yusef Sharif and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow," Koffler explained.
Hence the strongly worded comments to Fox News Digital from the State Department that "the United States is aware of the reported deal between Russia and the SAF [Sudanese Armed Forces] on establishing a Russian naval facility on Sudan's coast. We encourage all countries, including Sudan, to avoid any transactions with Russia's defense sector, which could trigger serious consequences, potentially including sanctions on entities or individuals associated with those transactions.
"Moving forward with such a facility or any other form of security cooperation with Russia would further isolate Sudan, deepen the current conflict, and risk further regional destabilization. "
On the (very) dry land that is Sudan, the situation Monday around the city of Al Fasher and the neighboring massive Zamzam refugee camp in the Darfur region is "horrifying," U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Tom Fletcher posted.
The civil war in Sudan, between the government's SAF and the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has just passed its grisly second anniversary. Tens of thousands have been killed, and an estimated 13 million people have been uprooted from their homes. The U.N. describes it as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, and UNICEF calls it "hell on earth."
"There can be no overstating the brutality and destructiveness of the RSF assault on Zamzam (refugee camp)," Sudan researcher Eric Reeves told Fox News Digital this week. "The camp that has existed since 2004 is no longer, even as it had grown to more than 500,000 people."
Ominously, Reeves added that "the real dying has only just begun. Nearly the entire population of Zamzam has fled, and in all directions the threat of RSF violence remains. This creates insecurity of a sort that prevents humanitarians from reaching these scattered people. Tremendous numbers will die either from RSF violence or the lack of food, water and shelter."
Another 30 were reported killed on Tuesday in a fresh RSF attack on Al Fasher. And just this past week, the RSF rebels announced they are setting up their own government. The State Department told Fox News Digital, "The United States is deeply concerned about the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and aligned actors' declaration of a parallel government in Sudan. This attempt to establish a parallel government is unhelpful for the cause of peace and security and risks a de facto partition of the country."
"It will only further destabilize the country, threaten Sudan's territorial integrity, and spread wider instability throughout the region. The United States has made clear that our interest is in the restoration of peace and an end to the threats the conflict in Sudan pose to regional stability. The best path to peace and stability is an immediate and durable cessation of hostilities so that the processes of establishing a civilian government and rebuilding the country can begin," the spokesperson said.
Caleb Weiss, editor of the FDD's Long War Journal and also a Defections Program Manager at the Bridgeway Foundation, put some of the blame for not ending the Sudanese war on the Biden administration. He told Fox News Digital that it "stopped short of seriously facilitating any sort of meaningful peace talks/mediation/or being tough on outside backers of various groups to really get them to be serious in previous negotiation attempts. This is where the Biden administration failed."
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPWeiss continued, "President Trump should continue to be aggressive on sanctioning those committing acts of violence, but also sponsor and back serious peace talks that include both parties, offer financial incentives or even threaten financial penalties, and seriously hold international backers accountable for exacerbating the conflict."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


San Francisco Chronicle
42 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Syria to hold first parliamentary elections since Assad's fall in September
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria will hold parliamentary elections in September, the head of a body tasked with organizing the election process told state media Sunday. Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad, chairman of the Higher Committee for People's Assembly Elections, told state news agency SANA that elections will take place between Sept. 15 and 20. They will be the first to take place under the country's new authorities after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December. One third of the 210 seats will the appointed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, with the rest to be elected. In a recent interview with the Erem News site, another member of the elections committee, Hassan al-Daghim, said an electoral college will be set up in each of Syria's provinces to vote for the elected seats. A temporary constitution signed by al-Sharaa in March called for a People's Committee to be set up to serve as an interim parliament until a permanent constitution is adopted and general elections held, a process that could take years. The announcement of impending elections comes at a time when the country is increasingly divided in its views of the new authorities in Damascus after sectarian violence broke out in the southern province of Sweida earlier this month. The fighting killed hundreds of people and threatened to unravel Syria's fragile postwar transition. The violent clashes, which broke out two weeks ago, were sparked by tit-for-tat kidnappings between armed Bedouin clans and fighters from the Druze religious minority. Syrian government forces intervened, ostensibly to end the fighting, but effectively sided with the clans. Some government fighters reportedly executed Druze civilians and burned and looted houses. Israel intervened, launching airstrikes on government forces and on the Defense Ministry headquarters. Israel said it was acting to defend the Druze minority.


Los Angeles Times
42 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Syria to hold first parliamentary elections since Assad's fall
DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria will hold parliamentary elections in September, the head of a body tasked with organizing the election process told state media Sunday. Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad, chairman of the Higher Committee for People's Assembly Elections, told the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency that elections will take place between Sept. 15 and 20. They will be the first elections under the country's new authorities after the fall of longtime President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December. One-third of the 210 seats will be appointed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, with the rest to be elected. In a recent interview with the Erem News site, another member of the elections committee, Hassan al-Daghim, said an electoral college will be set up in each of Syria's provinces to vote for the elected seats. A temporary constitution signed by Al-Sharaa in March called for a People's Committee to be set up to serve as an interim parliament until a permanent constitution is adopted and general elections held, a process that could take years. The announcement of impending elections comes at a time when the country is increasingly divided in its views of the new authorities in Damascus after sectarian violence broke out in the southern province of Sweida this month. The fighting has killed hundreds of people and threatened to unravel Syria's fragile postwar transition. Violent clashes broke out two weeks ago, sparked by tit-for-tat kidnappings between armed Bedouin clans and fighters from the Druze religious minority. Syrian government forces intervened, ostensibly to end the fighting, but essentially sided with the Bedouins. Armed men, reportedly government fighters, have executed Druze civilians and burned and looted houses. Israel intervened, launching airstrikes on government forces and the Defense Ministry headquarters in Damascus, which it said was in defense of the Druze minority.


UPI
43 minutes ago
- UPI
State Department to burn birth control worth $9.7M meant for poor nations
The U.S. government plans to destroy $9.7 million of contraceptives for poor nations, mainly in Africa, after the nation "explored all possible options to prevent the destruction." UPI file photo | License Photo July 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. government plans to destroy a stockpile of contraceptives worth $9.7 million for poor nations, mainly in Africa, after the State Department "explored all possible options to prevent the destruction." The contraceptives include nearly 2 million doses of injectables, 900,000 implantable devices and more than 2 million oral packets, according to internal auditing in April obtained by The Washington Post. Chelsea Polis, a researcher with Guttsmacher Institute, which supports abortion rights, told the newspaper that the contraceptives could provide more than 650,000 women with pregnancy protection for up to one year and 950,000 women for three years. U.S. laws and rules prohibit sending U.S. aid to organizations that provide abortion services, counsel about the procedure or advocate for the right overseas. "The State Department confirms that a preliminary decision was made to destroy certain abortifacient birth control commodities from terminated Biden-era USAID contracts," a spokesperson said in a statement. "Only a limited number of commodities have been approved for disposal. No HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed." The destruction will cost $167,000, the spokesperson said. Most contraceptives have less than 70% of shelf life before expiration, the spokesperson said. The Guardian contacted an aide who visited the warehouse in Belgium and found the earliest expiration date was 2027. Two-thirds didn't have any labels. Belgium, the United Nations and humanitarian groups said they unsuccessfully stopped the destruction plans for the contraceptives. The U.S. Agency for International Development, which Trump disbanded and merged into the State Department, was to have distributed them. They are part of a $9.5 billion program over 10 years to provide aid to more than 40 nations. The government said it based its decision on a policy that restricts funding for reproductive-related actions in the Mexico City Policy and the Kemp-Kasten amendment. President Ronald Reagan instituted the policy in 1985 and it has become a political issue. It has rescinded by Democratic presidents and reinstated by Republicans several times, including by President Donald Trump when he returned to office in January. A bipartisan group of U.S. legislators doesn't want the contraceptives to be destroyed, including Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Brian Schatz of Hawaii. "This is a waste of U.S. taxpayer dollars and an abdication of U.S. global leadership in preventing unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and maternal deaths," said Shaheen, who in June sent a letter to the Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the matter. The U.N. Population Fund and the International Planned Parenthood Federation were interested in receiving the contraceptives. "UNFPA was in conversation with Chemonics about purchasing the contraceptives but didn't receive an answer from them," UNFPA spokesman Eddie Wright said. "It's the height of hypocrisy for a government to preach efficiency and cutting waste, only to turn around and recklessly destroy lifesaving supplies when the need has never been greater," Micah Grzywnowicz, regional director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network, said in a statement MSI Reproductive Choices offered to pay for shipping and repackaging. MSI provides abortion services. "The complete dismantling of the world's largest donor for international family planning has been a catastrophe for the global supply chain of contraceptives," said Sarah Shaw, associate director of advocacy and for the organization. Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced an increase in teen births, according to a study at Columbia University in 2024. The number of births climbed from 4.5 million births in 2000 to 6.1 million in 2021as they decreased in the rest of the world. In Africa, 30% of all woman use birth control but more than half would use it if available, according to DebboAfrica, a healthcare company for African women. Worldwide, around half of women of reproductive age of 15-19 use some form of contraception, according to Focus2030. Foreign aid cuts could lead to more than 14 million additional deaths by 2023, including two-thirds children, according to a study published in Lancet earlier this month. Congress earlier this month passed legislation to remove $8 billion in foreign assistance. The Atlantic reported earlier this month that 551 tons of emergency food were expiring and will be incinerated rather than being fed to almost 1.5 million children in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Almost 800,000 Mpox vaccines to be sent to Africa also are not usable because they are past their expiration date, Politico reported earlier this month.