KHARTOUM (HRNW) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met officials in Sudan on Thursday as part of an African tour seeking to expand Moscow’s influence at a time when Western nations have sought to isolate it with sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Lavrov arrived in Khartoum late on Wednesday, and the talks aimed to increase economic and diplomatic coordination as well as infrastructure investment, Sudan’s foreign ministry said.
The veteran Russian foreign minister’s tour has also included Iraq, Mauritania and Mali, following a visit last week to South Africa.
“We discussed the need to coordinate within international institutions, reform the (U.N.) Security Council, and build a multipolar world,” Lavrov told a news conference.
Sudan was cut off from billions of dollars in international financing after military leaders ousted a Western-backed transitional government in 2021. At the same time as receiving Lavrov, Khartoum was this week hosting envoys from the United States, Britain, France and other countries that are supporting talks to form a new democratic civilian government in Sudan.