Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

relations are diplomatic relations between the State of Eritrea and the Russian Federation. Russia has an embassy in

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...

and Eritrea has its

own OWN may also refer to: *Old West Norse, a North Germanic language *'' Once Was Not'' (2005), an album by Cryptopsy * One Warrior Nation, what The Ultimate Warrior calls his fans *Oprah Winfrey Network, a U.S.-based cable and satellite television c ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Eritrean president

Isaias Afwerki Isaias Afwerki (, ; born 2 February 1946) is an Eritrean politician and leader who has been the List of heads of state of Eritrea, president of Eritrea since 1993 and the chairman of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) since 1994 ...

has been a supporter of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

since 2022.

History

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on May 24, 1993. In July 2000 and February 2003, humanitarian aid was delivered to Eritrea by aircraft of the Russian Emergencies Ministry. The Russian Embassy in

has been operating since June 1994, the Eritrean Embassy in Moscow opened two years later in June 1996. In 2010, President Isaias received Russian special envoy

Mikhail Margelov Mikhail Vitalyevich Margelov (; born 22 December 1964), is a Russian public figure and politician, Vice President, JSC “Transneft”, and ex-Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of Russia. He has been a member o ...

for a meeting, where he criticized U.S. policies in the region and the " uni-polar balance of force". In 2018, Russia and Eritrea announced their intentions to build a

logistics center A logistics center, or depot, is a facility dedicated to logistical operations. A logistics center might be a warehouse, freight forwarder, or a repair depot. The United States Air Force (USAF) is serviced by three air logistics centers (also know ...

in an unnamed Eritrean port city.

Russian invasion of Ukraine and intensification of relations

Along with

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

, Eritrea was one of only four countries not including Russia to vote against a

United Nations General Assembly resolution A United Nations General Assembly resolution is a decision or declaration voted on by all member states of the United Nations in the United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly. General Assembly resolutions usually require a simple majority ...

condemning Russia's

2022 invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. However, Eritrea abstained from voting on the UN resolution pertaining to the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which was held in response to the

2022 annexation referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine In late September 2022, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian-installed officials in Ukraine staged so-called referendums on the annexation of occupied territories of Ukraine by Russia. They were widely described as sham r ...

. In 2023, Eritrea’s President

voiced support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In January 2023, the Russia foreign minister

Sergey Lavrov Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (, ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004. He is the longest-serving Russian foreign minister since Andrei Gromyko d ...

and senior advisors traveled to Eritrea meeting with President Afwerki, the Eritrean foreign minister and other senior officials. Afwerki visited Russia on an official state visit in spring of 2023, the first in the history of Russia-Eritrea relations. Both Eritrean and Russian leaders held talks. Afwerki returned to Russia later that summer, attending the

2023 Russia–Africa Summit The second Russia–Africa Summit was held at the Expo Forum in St. Petersburg on 27 and 28 July 2023, following its postponement, having been originally scheduled for October 2022 at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. In March 2024, the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

sent the Pacific Fleet vessels ''Varyag'' and ''

Marshal Shaposhnikov ''Marshal Shaposhnikov'' () is a modernized (Reclassified as Frigate) of the Russian Navy commissioned in 1985. The vessel serves in the Russian Pacific Fleet. Her namesake is Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov. Operational history On 6 April 2003, ...

'' to the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

. On 29 March, the Eritrean Ministry of Information released photos of the ''Marshal Shaposhnikov'' at the port of

Massawa Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...

and revealed that the vessels were sent to mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries and will leave on 5 April. The decision to send the vessels to the Red Sea sparked speculation from Western media since it occurred during the

Red Sea crisis {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Red Sea crisis , width = , partof = the Iran–Israel proxy conflict, the Middle Eastern crisis (2023–present), and the Yemeni civil war (2014–present) , image ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eritrea-Russia relations

Bilateral relations of Russia