WASHINGTON: The United States (US) has invited the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for US-mediated truce talks starting on Aug. 14 in Switzerland, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.
Antony Blinken said in a statement that the ceasefire talks will include the African Union, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and the United Nations as observers.
“The scale of death, human suffering, and destruction in Sudan is shocking. This meaningless conflict must end,” the US Secretary of State said, calling on the Sudanese army and RSF to attend the talks and approach them positively.
The conflict in Sudan, which erupted in April 2023, has forced around ten million people from their houses, sparked warnings of starvation and waves of ethnically-driven violence blamed largely on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller also told media persons on Tuesday that the target of the talks in Switzerland was to build on work from last session and try to move the dialogs to the next level.
Miller said that they just wanted to get the sides back to the talks, and what they determined was that bringing the warring parties, the host countries and the observers together was the best shot that they have right now at getting the countrywide cessation of violence.
