15 Dec 2025
In an extensive interview with Al-Tayar newspaper, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki revealed details of his discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on developments in Sudan. He warned of the dangers posed by foreign interference and the continued flow of weapons and mercenaries, stressing that cutting off the feeding of the conflict is the only viable path to ending the war, protecting civilians, and restoring stability, not only in Sudan but across the wider region.
The interview followed a meeting between President Afwerki and the Saudi Crown Prince, held within the framework of Saudi efforts to strengthen the Kingdom’s regional presence in Africa and to safeguard its strategic interests in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest maritime shipping routes.
Afwerki noted that his experience spanning more than five decades, from the liberation struggle through state-building, has made him acutely aware of the sensitivity of Eritrea’s position along the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and of the shared regional responsibilities this geography entails. He emphasized that security in this area cannot be separated from stability in Sudan and across the Horn of Africa.
In this context, the Eritrean president said,
Afwerki also called for a more effective Saudi role in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, one that reflects the Kingdom’s global political and economic weight. He argued that Saudi Arabia’s return to its natural role in the region would help restore the necessary balance and curb the expansion of smaller but more active and influential regional actors.I devoted a significant part of my discussions with the Saudi Crown Prince to explaining the seriousness of foreign interventions in Sudan, the continued flow of weapons and mercenaries, and the role played by certain states in fueling the war, and the resulting security imbalances that threaten the entire region.
The Eritrean president explained that the Rapid Support Militia is receiving advanced weapons and recruiting mercenaries from multiple countries, a development that has led to a serious escalation in crimes against civilians, including killing, looting, rape, and the systematic destruction of Sudan’s social and economic fabric. He said that ignoring these realities cannot be justified as neutrality, but instead amounts to indirect complicity in the continuation of the war.
Afwerki stressed that any talk of peace initiatives or ceasefires loses its meaning as long as channels for arms supplies and recruitment remain open, emphasizing that stopping the feeding of the conflict is the only way to truly end the war, protect civilians, and lay the groundwork for restoring stability.
He concluded by affirming that the security of the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa is a shared responsibility, and that lasting stability will not be achieved unless foreign interventions cease and the affairs of the region are managed by the will of its own states and peoples, free from proxy wars and policies of perpetual escalation.
