The establishment of a Russian military presence in Eritrea is seen as mutually beneficial for both nations, and the preferred site for establishing a base is Assab.
Eritrea has been sending athletes to Summer Olympiads since the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia. The small country in North-East Africa that borders Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sudan even won an Olympic Bronze medal in the Men's 10,000m run in the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece. The 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea saw Eritrea send their first Winter Olympic Athlete in then 21-year-old Shannon-Ogbnai Abeda.