A senior U.S. presidential adviser said on Wednesday the four-nation roadmap to end Sudan’s war includes a “clear timeline,” following meetings with African Union officials in Ethiopia’s capital.
Massad Boulos, the president’s senior adviser for Africa and Middle East affairs, held talks with AU leaders in Addis Ababa on Sudan and wider African issues, local media reported. Boulos was appointed State Department senior adviser for Africa in April and has made multiple regional trips since.
The Quad roadmap calls for an initial three-month humanitarian truce to enable aid across Sudan, followed by a permanent ceasefire and a nine-month transition to civilian rule. The four foreign ministers said there is no military solution to the conflict, which has driven famine and mass displacement.
The African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development publicly welcomed the Quad’s position this week, saying it aligns with their own roadmaps and the Jeddah process, and pledged to work with the four governments and Sudanese actors to end the war.
Port Sudan SAF junta has pushed back against what it called foreign interference, while Sudanese political and civil groups have issued welcoming reactions, including Nyala-based RSF-led TASIS coalition.
Washington paired the roadmap announcement with sanctions on Sudan’s finance minister Jibril Ibrahim and the Al-Bara bin Malik brigade, citing their roles in the conflict and ties that Washington says fuel regional instability.
Fighting between General al-Burhan’s forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces has raged since April 2023, with urban warfare around El-Fasher in North Darfur among the most destructive fronts. Diplomatic efforts have repeatedly stalled, and it remains unclear whether the belligerents will accept the Quad’s sequencing.
