Switzerland to host US-mediated peace talks on Sudan

Switzerland will co-host the negotiations with Saudi Arabia. The talks will be led by the US. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces are set to hold peace talks in Switzerland in mid-August. The United States (US) announced this on Tuesday evening, having extended invitations to both sides for the conference.

In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had invited the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to the talks. The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed to the Keystone-SDA news agency that the negotiations would be taking place in Switzerland.

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The United States has asked Switzerland to help organise talks between the warring parties with the aim of reaching a ceasefire. The Swiss foreign ministry has agreed to this request, and Switzerland will co-host the negotiations with Saudi Arabia. The talks will be led by the US.

The Confederation “welcomes all efforts to resolve the conflict through negotiation. It supports such initiatives with its good offices, particularly through its peace policy programme in Sudan and its ambassador on special mission for the Horn of Africa,” said the foreign ministry.

Ceasefire and humanitarian aid

General Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, the RSF paramilitary leader, welcomed Blinken’s invitation and confirmed his unit’s participation. The discussions will also include the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Nations (UN) as observers.

Their aim is “to achieve a nationwide cessation of violence, ensure humanitarian access for all those in need, and establish a robust monitoring and verification mechanism to oversee the implementation of any agreement,” added Blinken.

Previous unsuccessful rounds

Since April 2023, Sudan has been plunged into a war between the army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, and the RSF led by General Daglo. The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives and caused a major humanitarian crisis.

+ Sudan: senior Red Cross official reflects on devastating year-long war

Previous rounds of negotiations held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, were unsuccessful. When asked about the chances of success this time, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said he couldn’t “assess the likelihood of an agreement, but we simply want to get the parties back to the negotiating table.”

These new negotiations, if they take place, will not, however, address “broader political issues”, Blinken pointed out.

Humanitarian disaster

Initial talks between the two warring parties in Sudan and a UN envoy, Algerian diplomat Ramtane Lamamra, have taken place in Geneva over the last few days, focusing on humanitarian aid and the protection of civilians.

In a report published on Monday, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned that 15 months of war in Sudan had had a “disastrous” impact on civilians.

+ More on Sudan’s tragedy from the Inside Geneva podcast

“The price paid by civilians in this war is such that what seems to be a conflict between belligerents is, in reality, a war against the Sudanese people,” the report states. While many organisations have halted their activities in the country, MSF continues to operate in eight states across Sudan.

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Acute food insecurity

The war has forced more than 11 million people to flee both within the country and across its borders, according to the UN. It has devastated infrastructure and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

According to a UN-backed report from late June, around 25.6 million people – more than half the population of Sudan – are currently facing “acute food insecurity”. Both sides have been accused of war crimes for deliberately targeting civilians.

Translated from French by DeepL/sp

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