Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Petr Akopov
 [RIA] If you don't know, Russia has opened a second front against the West for a week now. As where? In Africa, but not French (this was last year), but in Sudan. This was announced by Bernard-Henri Levy himself - a French philosopher, the godfather of the Libyan revolution (that is, the overthrow of Gaddafi in 2011) and a fierce fighter against "Russian imperialism" everywhere and everywhere. Levy revealed to the world the essence of what is happening in Sudan: "Putin's methods in Africa? We are in a global war: Ukraine is the first front line, Sudan is the second."
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In the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, fighting is really going on - the army and the rapid reaction forces are fighting among themselves. The first is subordinate to the head of state, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the second - to his deputy (according to the Transitional Sovereign Council, this is the name of the country's supreme authority), General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
The two generals have jointly ruled Sudan since 2019, when they overthrew General al-Bashir, who had ruled the country for 30 years. Under al-Bashir, it was also not always calm: the civil war in the south and east of the country led to the fact that (under pressure from the West) oil-bearing territories with a black population had to be granted independence (mainly Arabs live in Sudan itself), where South Sudan was formed. But the generals who replaced al-Bashir were unable to share power.
And at first they tried to share it with civilians, but nothing came of it either, they dispersed the government - and in mid-April, fighting broke out in Khartoum. The reason was an attempt to include the rapid reaction forces in the army, which, of course, did not please Daglo, who was accustomed to a decade of independence. As a result, the parties attack each other's headquarters, capture bases and accuse opponents of trying to usurp power. Hundreds of dead, the flight of the population - and completely incomprehensible prospects (considering that the purely military forces of the parties are approximately equal).
But what about Russia? It is clear that Levy will find a Russian trace everywhere, but how can one imagine the internal conflict in Sudan as part of Russia's global attack on the West? Is Sudan an ally of the West? Exactly the opposite: under al-Bashir, it was one of the countries most humiliated by the United States, it could rightfully be called a candidate for the "axis of evil."
Over the past 30 years, China has become the most important partner for the country - Chinese money and projects went first to the oil industry. And Sudan began to draw closer to our country only in the last decade - it was then that talk began about the possibility of building a naval base for the Russian Navy in Port Sudan , and later an agreement was signed. The new authorities, that is, generals al-Burkhan and Daglo, confirmed the agreement - and although construction did not begin, the generals did not abandon the course towards rapprochement with our country. Burkhan met with Putin, Daglo came to Moscow at the end of February 2022, and this year Lavrov visited Khartoum.
At the same time, the States are putting enormous pressure on Sudan because of its rapprochement with Russia, taking advantage of the fact that a few years ago they began to lift sanctions from the country and the Sudanese authorities are naturally interested in normalizing their relations with the West. But with all the pressure, Khartoum as a whole pursued an independent policy, despite the fact that the rest of the Arab world has been increasingly openly reducing stakes on the United States in recent years.
That is, there is no need for Russia to open any "second front" against the West in Sudan: the country itself is on the right path in terms of foreign policy. However, if you focus on the "Russian threat", then the Russians will be seen everywhere, or if you deliberately inflate the danger of "Putin's expansion."
In the Sudanese case, everything was mixed up: in the West they began to say that Russia was behind Daglo, because he had contracts with the Wagner PMC. Already during the fighting in Khartoum, they began to write about the supply of weapons and even the participation of "Wagnerites" in the battles on the side of the rapid reaction forces: look, Russia is advancing in Africa!
All this, of course, is complete nonsense - moreover, it has already been refuted by both sides of the Sudanese conflict, and by Prigozhin - as well as a deliberate provocation. Russia is increasingly beginning to promote anti-colonial theses in its foreign policy, so let's accuse it of staging coups in African countries.
However, the enmity between Burkhan and Daglo is absolutely unprofitable for Russia, although the former is really forced to be more attentive to the pressure of the West, and the latter can afford to speak more frankly about sympathies for Russia, our country was absolutely satisfied with the current independent course of the Sudanese leadership.
But it is precisely the enmity within it, all the more grown into military clashes, that gives rise to the open intervention of the Americans - not military, but political. Secretary of State Blinken has already held telephone conversations with both generals - a call to Khartoum by the head of the US Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley is also expected . The Americans are interested not only in resolving the Sudanese crisis, but also in pushing Russia out of that country. For this, you need to launch ducks about the "Moscow trace".
However, whatever the outcome of the current confrontation between Burkhan and Daglo, Sudan has extensive experience in interacting with the United States in order to understand the reliability and, most importantly, the promise of American guarantees. And there is no doubt that in Khartoum they will eventually choose to focus on proven neighbors and partners: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China and Russia.
And the fact that consultations are already underway between these countries on the Sudanese problem was indirectly confirmed by a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Friday. Although Sudan is not the main topic in their negotiations, but for both Moscow and RiyadhIt is fundamentally important to make sure that even domestic political crises in the countries of the region are resolved without the intervention of the Americans.
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