US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has warned that efforts to end Sudan’s war will make no progress unless foreign powers supporting the rival factions use their influence to ensure they honour their commitments, as Washington renewed its call for a humanitarian truce.
Speaking to reporters in New York on Wednesday, September 23, Rubio expressed frustration over repeated diplomatic failures, saying agreements reached during international negotiations had consistently broken down.
He said external actors were sustaining the conflict by supporting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), but declined to identify the countries involved.
Rubio said that without pressure from those foreign backers, the warring parties would continue to abandon agreements whenever they believed they could gain a military advantage.
The US secretary of state said Washington, Britain and other international partners had repeatedly attempted to secure agreements, only for commitments to go unfulfilled.
He stressed that while Washington remained committed to a lasting peace agreement, its immediate priority was securing humanitarian access for civilians trapped in conflict zones.
Rubio said aid organisations were unable to enter active combat areas despite repeated commitments by both sides to establish safe humanitarian zones.
He called for the opening of humanitarian corridors as an immediate measure to alleviate the worsening crisis, saying short-term progress on aid delivery could provide a foundation for wider peace negotiations.
The remarks came as Massad Boulos, US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, renewed Washington’s appeal for Sudan’s warring parties to accept a humanitarian truce.
In a statement on X, Boulos described the proposed truce as the first step towards lasting peace and said Sudanese civilians deserved an opportunity to participate in a political process that would restore peace to a unified country.
The renewed appeal follows a September 22 statement by the US State Department accusing both the SAF and RSF of failing to demonstrate a serious commitment to an immediate humanitarian truce.
Washington said the two sides had instead intensified military operations and drone strikes that killed civilians, while repeatedly failing to accept a proposed cessation of hostilities without preconditions.
The State Department also called for an inclusive political dialogue leading to a transition to civilian government, saying neither warring faction nor its leadership represented legitimate constitutional governance in Sudan.
The latest diplomatic push comes as the United States works with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates through the international Quad mechanism to secure a negotiated settlement.
Under the roadmap proposed by the four countries in September 2025, an initial three-month humanitarian truce would pave the way for a permanent cessation of hostilities and an inclusive civilian-led political transition within nine months.
The proposal also calls for an end to external military support that continues to fuel Sudan’s conflict.
