Negotiations that have started since yesterday Wednesday in Switzerland are trying to bring de-escalation in the war that has erupted since 2023 in Sudan.

The negotiations are focused on trying to declare a ceasefire in the region. However, one side is missing from these talks: The army. 

It’s time for the guns to finally fall silent, the US special envoy for Sudan Tom Periello said via X after the start of the talks, which are being held at a secret location for security reasons.

It is recalled that the war broke out in April 2023 between the army, under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), under the former second-in-command of the military junta, General Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The armed conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions more and brought the population to the brink of starvation.

Previous rounds of negotiations, held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, have failed. At the end of July, Washington invited the opposing sides to participate, starting yesterday, August 14, in talks in Switzerland with the aim of declaring a ceasefire.

The purpose of the new talks is to expand access to humanitarian aid and create a strong monitoring and verification mechanism to guarantee the implementation of any agreement, according to US diplomacy.

The paramilitaries immediately accepted the invitation. But Sudan’s government, which is ruled de facto by the head of the armed forces, has for its part expressed its disagreement with the US regarding the negotiations, and is implementing an empty chair policy, as it had hinted.

Source: CNN Greece

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