Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to media questions at a joint news conference with Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Sudan Ali Al-Sadiq Ali following talks, Khartoum, February 9, 2023

Ladies and gentlemen.

I would like to thank our Sudanese friends for the invitation and for the warm welcome. I had substantive meetings with Chairman of the Supreme (Sovereign) Council of the Republic of Sudan Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman al-Burhan, his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Al-Sadiq Ali.

We noted the intensive and trust-based nature of the political dialogue. The Head of the Supreme (Sovereign) Council of Sudan participated in the first Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi in 2019 and met with President Vladimir Putin.

Today, Chairman Burhan confirmed his participation in the second Russia-Africa Summit which will be held in St Petersburg in late July. Last year, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme (Sovereign) Council of the Republic of Sudan Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and Acting Foreign Minister Ali Al-Sadiq Ali visited our country as part of the League of Arab States’ delegation.

During today’s talks, we agreed to continue to closely coordinate our actions in the international arena amid the current fairly turbulent geopolitical situation caused by our US-led Western colleagues’ attempts to prevent the creation of a multipolar world and the implementation of the UN Charter in part that talks about the importance of respecting the sovereign equality of states.

Russia and Sudan consistently speak at the UN in support of initiatives that promote a democratic international order based on multipolarity principles that are enshrined in the UN Charter. We reviewed from this angle various developments unfolding in Africa and other parts of the world, including the situation that our Western colleagues have created in Ukraine in an attempt to turn it into a weapon for waging a hybrid war against the Russian Federation.

We support Sudan’s fair approaches to considering the Sudanese issue at the UN Security Council, including the importance of lifting restrictions that were imposed several years ago. We will continue to support each other’s initiatives at the UN and to vote in solidarity on issues of interest to either country.

In addition to the political dialogue and efforts to coordinate our foreign policies, we are facing multiple challenges in trade, economic, investment, and humanitarian cooperation. A number of Russian companies operate in Sudan, some of them developing the mineral resource base. We appreciate the attention the country’s leadership is paying to their operations and the comfortable conditions that have been created for them, as well as our Sudanese friends’ interest in attracting additional Russian investment. Our companies are busy considering specific proposals in this regard.

We support the Sudanese leadership’s efforts to stabilise the domestic political situation. We believe that the national dialogue should be maintained by the Sudanese themselves without outside interference or attempts to provide them with “formulas.”

According to my colleague and friend Ali Al-Sadiq Ali, we stated the continuing similarity and unity of our approaches to issues such as the Libyan settlement, overcoming the conflict in Syria and creating a Palestinian state based on existing UN resolutions. 

I invited Acting Foreign Minister of the Republic of Sudan Ali Al-Sadiq Ali to pay a return visit to the Russian Federation.

Question: The Western media reported that your visit to Sudan coincided with some Western diplomats’ trip to that country. In your estimation, how strongly is Sudan being influenced from the outside today? How could this affect relations between Russia and Sudan?

Sergey Lavrov: I have heard that maybe five or six Western diplomats, including representatives of the European Union, are visiting Sudan. As I understand it, the same group was in Mauritania the day before our arrival there. It looks like they are stalking us. In January, the day after our visit to the Republic of South Africa, a large group of Western representatives arrived in that country, including EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. He even left his “flowering garden” to go to a place he calls the “jungle” to try to bring discord to our relations with our African friends.

It is quite telling that our Western colleagues are showing such remarkable determination (and arrogance, I would say) as they are running around the world almost weekly, demanding that the Russian Federation be condemned. First, the very fact that they are trying so hard means that they know they are wrong, and that’s why countries on various continents need to be constantly reminded that they are supposed to take an anti-Russia stance. Second, if our Western colleagues had used even a thousandth of their current efforts convincing countries over the past eight years, to instead insist on the immediate implementation of the Minsk agreements, there would have been no need for our special military operation. Although, as we now know, the implementation of Minsk-2 package was not part of the West’s plan. That plan included preparing Ukraine for a hybrid war against Russia in order to eliminate a rival on the world stage.

As for how this might affect our relations with the African countries – everything that we hear and see, and how it makes us feel suggests that this will not have any negative impact on our ties.

Question (translated from Arabic): With the sheer number of earthquake victims, can Russia do its part to provide some relief?

Sergey Lavrov: It is strange to hear a question like that from Al Jazeera. I watched your coverage the last few days which described our country’s position in detail and with great accuracy. Moscow has not only expressed condolences to its Turkish and Syrian colleagues at the top level, but immediately sent special Emergencies Ministry aircraft with rescuers and humanitarian supplies to Türkiye and Syria.

Question: During this and your previous trips across the continent, you have expressed your position to your African colleagues regarding the conflict in Ukraine and the role of the West in it. Now, in reviewing your third tour of the region in six months, what is the African countries’ position? Is Africa on our side?

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said, “the world would be better without Putin in it.” What do you think about this kind of rhetoric and do you see a threat to Russian leadership?

Sergey Lavrov: African countries have adopted a responsible and independent position from the outset of the Ukraine-related developments, when the special military operation was launched as a result of thwarting the Minsk agreements and creating a threat emanating from Ukraine to the Russian Federation and the Russian-speaking citizens of that country.

In fact, they declared unanimously that they were interested in the speedy establishment of peace, would be neutral towards the parties and would be willing to contribute in every possible way to the search for compromise.

The Minister was part of the group of Arab League member countries that visited Moscow in early April 2022 to discuss the developments in Ukraine. That coincided in time with the Russian Federation agreeing to Ukraine’s proposal to conclude a specific agreement to settle the situation. All of that gave hope, but these hopes vanished just a few days later when the Anglo-Saxons and their colleagues barred the Zelensky regime from concluding an agreement on the terms that Kiev itself offered.

Our friends in Africa, Asia and Latin America are well aware of the fact that the ongoing processes stem from the geopolitical manipulations of the United States and its allies to maintain a hegemony in global affairs. The fact that they are “running around” the globe trying to talk the developing countries into condemning the Russian Federation and undermining their relations with Russia, means only one thing: they do not believe in democracy or in the equality of the countries in the international arena. Otherwise, they would leave the developing countries alone and respect their right to decide on their own responses to international affairs.

With regard to the statements made by the new German Defence Minister (whose last name I have not yet memorised) Boris Pistorius, we heard lots of rude statements coming from German politicians. Regarding what kind of world would be better and who should not be part of it, I think they’d be better off starting with taking a closer look at their EU colleagues and at domestic German politics.

Judging by the bellicose rhetoric that is getting increasingly loud in the West – Washington, London, Brussels, Paris, the EU and NATO – and is insisting that the path to peace lies through arming Ukraine to the teeth (President Emmanuel Macron said they wanted peace, so Ukraine must win), our Western colleagues, not just the person who heads the German Ministry of Defence, believe that the world would be better off without Russia or with a defeated Russia that is pounded into submission. You know the price for such ambitions, which at one point in history came from German soil and how it all ended.

Question (translated from Arabic): Did the talks touch on the activities of a private military company on Sudan’s border with Central Africa? Was the issue of continuing the construction of a fleet supply depot discussed?

Sergey Lavrov: We have commented several times on the activities of our private military companies operating in Africa at the direct request of the governments of the respective countries. This also applies to the Central African Republic, and it is our contribution to normalising the situation in this terrorist gang infested region.

Today, we supported the decision made by our Sudanese friends after their meetings with the leaders of the Central African Republic to block the cross-border movement of terrorist groups between Sudan and Central Africa.

Regarding the Agreement on Creating a Russian Navy Supply Depot in Sudan, it has been signed and is in the process of being ratified.