(Bloomberg) -- Russia is awaiting Sudan’s legislative approval for a planned naval base on the Red Sea, its top envoy said, as he visited the North African country on a multi-nation trip to shore up alliances on the continent.

An agreement already signed needs ratification, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters Thursday in the capital, Khartoum. 

In other comments, he said Russia favors “non-interference” in Sudan’s internal affairs and accused the West of “hounding” Russia, partly in reference to a simultaneous visit by US and European envoys to Sudan.

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