Under the title "Sources to 'Asharq': Sudan Seeks to Reduce Russian Presence in the Red Sea... Moscow Denies," Bloomberg Asharq published news from sources within the Sudanese transitional government that stated Khartoum has decided to limit the Russian presence in the Red Sea at the "Flamingo" base, restricting it to reconnaissance ships only. This was denied by the Russian embassy in Khartoum, after it was also reported by Sudanese media. The Russian embassy confirmed in a statement on Thursday on its Facebook page that "claims about the suspension of an agreement between Russia and Sudan to establish a Russian naval base on the Red Sea do not align with reality." The statement emphasized that "the Russian embassy in Khartoum has not received any notification from the Sudanese side."
Sources from "Asharq" indicated that the legislative council will decide on the matter of establishing Russian or American military bases. They noted that the transitional government also decided to halt all military agreements related to military bases that were made with the regime of the ousted president Omar al-Bashir.
The "Flamingo" base was announced by Moscow last November as part of a draft agreement with Khartoum to create a logistics center for the Russian fleet on the Sudanese coast of the Red Sea. The project includes establishing and deploying a logistics center on Sudanese territory, developing and modernizing its infrastructure to maintain Russian warships and supply them, as well as providing rest facilities for their crews. According to the draft agreement published by the Russian official gazette, the proposed center would be capable of accommodating ships with nuclear capabilities, with a limit of 4 ships docked simultaneously and a maximum number of personnel at the center not exceeding 300.
Many observers believe that this agreement, which extends for 25 years, represents a historic breakthrough for Russia, carrying significant implications for the region. The American agency "Bloomberg" revealed last December that civilian ruling parties in Sudan were marginalized when the decision was made to sign the military agreement with Russia regarding the "Flamingo" base. The agency quoted then-acting Sudanese Foreign Minister Omar Gamal Eldin as saying that he had not received any copy of the agreement. For his part, central council member of the Forces of Freedom and Change, Kamal Bolad, criticized this agreement, considering it undermines Sudan's dynamic "to build balanced relations with various regional and international blocs."
