Somalia and Russia

How do Somalia and Russia relate today?

Relations are formal but thin. Somalia has an embassy in Moscow; Abdullahi Mohamud Warsame has been named as ambassador since 2016 (Wikipedia, Russia–Somalia relations). Russia covers Somalia from its embassy in Djibouti (Wikipedia).

Trade is small and mostly one way. Russian exports to Somalia were US$14.8 million in 2021, two-thirds of it cereals, mainly wheat (UN Comtrade, Russia–Somalia 2021; UN Comtrade, by product). In 2023 Russia named Somalia as one of six African countries to receive free grain (Wikipedia).

Most of Russia's stated positions on Somalia today come through the UN Security Council, where it is a permanent member (see below).

When did contact begin?

The Soviet Union and Somalia established diplomatic relations on 11 September 1960 (Wikipedia). In 1962 Moscow agreed to lend money to train and equip the Somali armed forces (Library of Congress, Somalia: A Country Study).

By the late 1960s (Library of Congress):

• about 300 Soviet military advisers served with the Somali forces;
• their equipment was almost all from Eastern Europe;
• about 500 Somalis had received military training in the USSR.

Soviet non-military aid included technical scholarships, printing presses, broadcasting equipment and help for farming and industry (Library of Congress).

What was the 1974 treaty, and why did it end?

After the 1969 coup, young Somali officers trained in the Soviet Union backed the new military government, though there was no evidence the coup was Soviet-inspired (Library of Congress). The government of Siad Barre adopted "scientific socialism" (Library of Congress).

On 11 July 1974 the two countries signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation (Patman, The Soviet Union in the Horn of Africa, Cambridge University Press, 1990, appendix A). The port and airfield at Berbera were developed by the Soviet Union in this period (Library of Congress, Relations with the United States).

In the 1977 Ogaden war the Soviet Union sided with Ethiopia (Library of Congress). In November 1977 Siad Barre ended the 1974 treaty and expelled Soviet advisers (Wikipedia). A Soviet airlift to Ethiopia began on 28 November 1977 (US Department of State, FRUS 1977–1980, vol. XVII, doc. 35).

Somalia then turned to the United States. A 1980 agreement gave US forces access to Berbera, Kismayo and Mogadishu, and the US refurbished the Soviet-built facility at Berbera (Library of Congress). See The Ogaden war, 1977.

Who are the ambassadors and envoys?

Somali ambassadors to the USSR and Russia (Wikipedia):

• Mohamed Ibrahim Liqliiqato, 1969–1970
• Mohamed Mohamoud Handule, 27 July 2007 to 2015
• Abdullahi Mohamud Warsame, from 2016

Russia has no resident embassy in Mogadishu; its embassy in Djibouti covers Somalia (Wikipedia).

Who built the tie?

• Siad Barre: Somali President who signed the 1974 treaty and ended it in November 1977 (Wikipedia).
• Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke and Sergei Lavrov: the Somali Prime Minister met the Russian Foreign Minister on 19 April 2016 and asked for help against Al-Shabaab (Wikipedia).
• Hassan Ali Khaire and Arkady Dvorkovich: the Somali Prime Minister met the Russian Deputy Prime Minister at the Davos forum in January 2018 (Wikipedia).
• Mohamed Mohamoud Handule and Abdullahi Mohamud Warsame: Somali ambassadors in Moscow from 2007 (Wikipedia).

What agreements have they signed?

• June 1961: cultural cooperation agreement (Wikipedia).
• 1962: Soviet loans for the Somali armed forces (Library of Congress).
• 11 July 1974: Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, ended by Somalia in November 1977 (Patman, 1990; Wikipedia).

How much do they trade?

Russian customs figures, in US dollars (UN Comtrade):

• 2015: exports 1.2 million (UN Comtrade 2015)
• 2019: exports 1.7 million, mostly cereals, machinery and vegetables (UN Comtrade 2019)
• 2020: exports 6.9 million (UN Comtrade 2020)
• 2021: exports 14.8 million, imports 0.23 million

Russia has not reported trade with Somalia to the UN after 2021 (UN Comtrade 2022).

What about security?

From 1962 to 1977 the Soviet Union armed and trained the Somali army, as described above (Library of Congress). There is no Russian military presence in Somalia today in the sources found. For current foreign forces see Foreign forces in Somalia and, for the Soviet era, Somali armed forces, 1960–1991.

How does Russia deal with Somaliland and the member states?

The Soviet base at Berbera was in what is now Somaliland (Library of Congress). No sourced Russian dealings with Somaliland or the member states after 1991 were found.

Have there been disputes?

• 1977: Somalia ended the friendship treaty after Moscow backed Ethiopia in the Ogaden war (Wikipedia; Library of Congress).
• 1978: Siad Barre criticised Soviet influence in the Horn of Africa at the summit of the Organisation of African Unity (Wikipedia).
• May 2010: after Russian forces freed the tanker MV Moscow University from Somali pirates, Somalia said relations could suffer over how the suspects were treated (Wikipedia, citing VOA).

How many Somalis live in Russia?

No UNHCR count of Somali refugees in Russia appears for 2025 (UNHCR Refugee Data Finder API). Somali students went to the USSR for military and technical training from the 1960s (Library of Congress).

Where does Russia stand in the UN and other bodies on Somalia?

In December 2025 talks on the Al-Shabaab sanctions regime, Russia backed Somalia's call to narrow the regime to Al-Shabaab and supported a sunset clause (Security Council Report, December 2025). It proposed removing conditions from the paragraph on changing the arms embargo (Security Council Report).

In the AUSSOM renewal talks the same month, Russia joined China and the African members in asking to limit the Secretary-General's reporting to the resolution's implementation (Security Council Report). Russia voted for both resolutions, 2806 and 2809, which passed unanimously (Security Council Report).

Related pages

• Siad Barre era, 1969–1991
• Somali Democratic Republic, 1969–1991
• Somali armed forces, 1960–1991
• The Ogaden war, 1977
• Foreign forces in Somalia