Sudan coup could offer boon for Moscow
Sudan's military coup could hurry along the process of Russia's deeper military involvement in the country.
The Sudanese military detained the country's prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, on Monday along with several other members of the government. Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who led the coup and alongside Hamdok headed the transitional military-civilian government, announced on state television the introduction of a state of emergency in the country and the dissolution of the country’s so-called Transitional Sovereign Council and the government. As protests erupted in Khartoum and world capitals condemned the coup, the events in Sudan were greeted with restrained optimism in Moscow. Russian officials to this point have refrained from recognizing the change of power in Khartoum as a military coup.
“It's hard to say if this is a coup or not. The term ‘coup’ has a specific definition. There are situations like [that of Sudan] in many parts of the world that are not called a coup. This is sometimes called a change of power. … It is up to the Sudanese people to decide whether it is a coup or not," First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy told reporters on Tuesday before the UN Security Council’s discussion of the situation in Sudan.
Polyanskiy went as far as to justify the use of force by the Sudanese security forces to suppress protests in the country, claiming that those protesting against the change of power were themselves using violence.
“As far as I can see, there are not only peaceful protests but [also] violent protests,” he said.
