The United States on Friday called for a humanitarian truce in Sudan to ease civilian suffering and allow aid deliveries, while urging the United Nations Security Council to expand an arms embargo and strengthen sanctions over a war that has devastated the country.
“Every day that this conflict persists is unacceptable,” U.S. Ambassador Jeff Bartos, the U.S. representative to the United Nations for management and reform, told the council.
“We need a humanitarian truce,” he said, warning that civilians are being killed by weapons and mercenaries flowing into Sudan, as well as by hunger and the growing risk of famine.
The war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began in April 2023, has displaced millions of people, damaged critical infrastructure and severely restricted humanitarian access.
Bartos said a truce would help alleviate civilian suffering but stressed that peace efforts must be accompanied by an inclusive political process leading to civilian-led governance.
He urged the council to take action to stem weapons supplies to the warring parties, saying an expanded arms embargo would increase the cost of continuing the conflict and limit external military support.
“The United States will continue to push to expand the sanctions regime to better reflect the realities of a conflict that now spans the entire country,” he said.
Bartos cited a recent strike on a displacement shelter in Blue Nile state that reportedly killed more than 30 internally displaced people, which he attributed to the RSF. He also said an attack on a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy days later killed a driver, marking the ninth aerial attack on WFP operations in Sudan this year.
The United States also called for unhindered humanitarian access, including air access for aid workers in Darfur. Bartos said flights would reduce journeys that can take days overland to hours and facilitate medical evacuations for humanitarian staff.
He urged Sudanese authorities to address delays in travel permits and other administrative restrictions that he said were hampering relief operations.
The United States said it is ready to work with Security Council members to support mediation, secure a humanitarian truce and ensure unhindered aid access.
China, Russia oppose wider embargo
China and Russia opposed expanding the existing arms embargo, arguing that broader restrictions could worsen the humanitarian crisis and undermine Sudan’s territorial integrity.
Chinese Ambassador Fu Cong said existing sanctions should be enforced and external military support halted, but warned that expanding the embargo would not stop illicit weapons flows and could increase the risk of the country’s division.
China called for African-led mediation and a Sudanese-owned political process, saying external pressure and coercion would not deliver lasting peace.
Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya also opposed expanding the embargo’s geographical scope or introducing new sanctions criteria, arguing that existing measures are sufficient to target individuals and groups responsible for violence and violations of international law.
Russia backed Sudan’s state institutions and criticised efforts to establish a parallel government in areas controlled by the RSF. It also opposed what it described as Western attempts to impose a political settlement or place the army and the paramilitary force on an equal footing.
The differences highlight divisions among Security Council members over how to restrict arms supplies and pressure the warring parties, despite their stated support for civilian protection and humanitarian assistance.
Sudan sets conditions for truce
Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed, said the government remains committed to peace and had submitted proposals for civilian protection, a ceasefire and mechanisms to monitor implementation.
He said a successful humanitarian truce requires the RSF to withdraw from civilian facilities and homes to designated assembly points under international monitoring, alongside the removal of foreign mercenaries and an end to weapons and financial support for the paramilitary group.
The ambassador argued that RSF forces must be disarmed to prevent a truce from being used to rearm the group or facilitate the country’s partition.
He accused the RSF and its alleged foreign backers of using drones to attack civilian infrastructure, including fuel stations, water supplies and bridges.
Sudan also defended plans for a national political dialogue involving political parties, civil society, women, young people, refugees and internally displaced people. The government said the process should preserve Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The ambassador said Sudan had extended the opening of its border crossing with Chad for humanitarian assistance for three months, from October 1 to December 31, 2026. He denied that the government had obstructed humanitarian aid.
The post US presses Sudan for humanitarian truce appeared first on Radio Tamazuj.