The Russian government has announced plans to increase military and economic cooperation with Sudan, following a meeting of the Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum in Khartoum.

“Russia and Sudan have concrete plans to step up military technical cooperation, “ Russian state news agency TASS reported on Wednesday, citing Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Lavrov met his Sudanese counterpart Ali Karti on Wednesday as well as President Omar al Bashir.

At a press conference after the meeting with Karti he said, “We have a project and a plan to develop military cooperation in a way that will not disturb the balance of power in the region.”

TASS said that the military cooperation would be “in full compliance with the countries’ international obligations.”

Meanwhile, a Russian-Sudanese inter-governmental commission is expected to meet in Moscow next week, according to Lavrov. The Russian minister pointed out that a previous meeting of this kind resulted in a boost in trade between the two countries. 

Russia’s state news agency says that trade turnover between the two countries increased “fourfold” after the previous meeting last year. “We hope results of the next meeting will be as effective as these,” Lavrov said.

For his part, the Sudanese foreign minister disclosed that he discussed with Lavrov cooperation in oil and banking sectors. “We are glad to welcome Russian companies in Sudan,” he said.

He said he expected the dialogue to continue during the inter-governmental commission meeting in Moscow next week, the Russian state news agency reported.

Photo: Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets President Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum, 3 Dec. 2014 (AFP)