US invites Sudan’s warring parties to cease-fire talks in Switzerland, as fighting rages on

(LONDON) — The United States has announced it has invited Sudan’s warring parties to talks in Geneva, Switzerland, as international and regional efforts intensify for a cease-fire in the northeast African nation’s civil war.

The U.S.-mediated talks are set to be co-hosted by Switzerland and Saudi Arabia, a senior U.S. official told ABC News, building off the unsuccessful Jeddah negotiations process with additional observation from the African Union, Egypt, the United Nations and the United Arab Emirates.

“A few things have changed: One is the acuteness of the horrors, and two is the greater alignment across the region among our African and Gulf counterparts that this is an unacceptable situation, and that nobody wins from the continued destabilization,” the senior U.S. official told ABC News.

“We have to listen to the Sudanese people and deliver a process on a cease-fire and humanitarian aid access,” the official said.

The talks are set to begin in about three weeks, on Aug. 14, in Switzerland. The U.S. official said the U.S. is also looking into civilian participation at the talks. The talks are expected to be attended by representatives of the warring parties, who met separately with a U.N. envoy.

It comes as talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, broke down at the end of last year, with the warring parties refusing to budge or honor their commitments under the Jeddah declaration. However, recently concluded talks in Geneva were described by The U.N. Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan Ramtane Lamamra as an “encouraging initial step” in the complex process.

In a statement posted on X, Rapid Support Forces Paramilitary Group (RSF) chief Mohamed Daglo — commonly known as Hemedti — said the RSF is “ready to deal with these talks constructively.” He said he welcomed the invitation by U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Sudanese Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was yet to make a public statement on the invitation.

The scheduled negotiations arrive as the war in Sudan approaches its 16th month, U.N. Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric in a briefing on Tuesday, adding that the U.N. “continues to be extremely alarmed” by the situation.

“Almost 26 million men, women and children are acutely hungry,” said Dujarric. “The equivalent to the entire population of Australia. 750,000 people are just one step away from famine.”

On April 15, 2023, war broke out in Sudan’s capital Khartoum following months of tensions between the SAF and RSF paramilitary group linked to a planned transition to civilian rule. Fighting has since spread across the northeast African nation and intensified with allied militias joining the fight.

The conflict has precipitated the world’s “largest internal displacement crisis,” driving over 10 million people — about 20% of Sudan’s population — from their homes according to the U.N.’s International Office of Migration. At least 16,000 people have been killed according to the U.N.

A new report by Doctors Without Borders this week revealed civilians are enduring “horrific levels of violence,” with thousands across the country being treated for war-related injuries caused by explosions, gunshots and stabbings amid “shocking” reports of sexual and gender-based violence.

“The scale of death, suffering, and destruction in Sudan is devastating. This senseless conflict must end,” said the U.S. State Department in a statement. “The United States calls upon the SAF and the RSF to attend the talks and approach them constructively, with the imperative to save lives, stop the fighting, and create a path to a negotiated political solution to the conflict.”

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.