President Trump’s adviser for Africa and the Middle East, Musaad Bolus, said General al-Burhan’s army (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are “moving toward direct talks” to help end one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Bolus said the United States is holding discussions with both the SAF and the RSF to agree on broad principles for negotiations. “We hope to announce something very soon,” he said, adding that neither side “controls the current situation,” which has made both more willing to engage.
As part of stepped-up diplomacy, the Quad—comprising the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt—met in New York on Wednesday. In a post on X after the meeting, Bolus said the four countries reaffirmed the need to end the fighting in Sudan, restore peace, and meet urgent humanitarian needs, adding: “This war has gone on long enough, and the U.S. president wants peace.”
Bolus also said the RSF has agreed to allow aid convoys into El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, which has faced intense fighting and siege conditions. “Some supplies have already started to flow and things are beginning to take shape,” he said.
The war, which erupted in mid-April 2023, has killed more than 150,000 people and forced some 15 million to flee their homes, with widespread destruction of infrastructure running into the hundreds of billions of dollars.
