The United Nations is preparing to bring Sudan’s warring sides to the same table in Geneva, a rare glimmer of diplomacy in a war that has shredded the country and uprooted one of the world’s largest displaced populations. Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed the plan Thursday in an interview with Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya in Riyadh, though he offered no timeline for when the talks will begin.
Sudan has been locked in a devastating fight since April 2023, when the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces – once uneasy partners – turned their rivalry into a nationwide war. Tens of thousands have been killed, and more than 12 million people have been driven from their homes, a staggering upheaval that has pushed the country to the brink of famine and collapse.
“We will be having meetings in Geneva with both sides,” Guterres said, describing a UN push that aims to reopen channels of communication after months of battlefield stalemate and mounting civilian suffering.
Global concern spiked in October when reports of mass atrocities surfaced in El-Fasher, the army’s final foothold in Darfur. The city fell to the RSF after an 18-month siege that severed supply lines and left residents cut off from the outside world. Guterres said the UN has been promised access to the city “in the very near future,” though communications remain down, with RSF forces reportedly restricting access to Starlink satellite services.
“Nobody behaves well,” Guterres said, “but there is one side that clearly is committing atrocities of the worst character, and that’s the RSF.”
In New York, UN spokesman Farhan Haq said early discussions are expected to begin at the technical level – modest in scope but essential, he stressed, for clearing a path toward more substantive negotiations. “We’re hopeful that we can move ahead,” he said. “Technical-level talks pave the ground for something more productive.”
Guterres’ push follows his meeting in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose government has reemerged as a key player in Sudan diplomacy. Hopes for renewed mediation rose last month when U.S. President Donald Trump said he would help end the conflict after the crown prince urged him to step in during a visit to Washington.
Saudi Arabia is part of the Quad, a group of four nations – alongside the United States, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates – that has stepped up efforts to broker an end to the war. Washington sees Cairo and Abu Dhabi as among the few actors with real leverage over the generals driving the conflict.
As diplomacy inches forward, violence on the ground continues. On Thursday, Darfur Governor Mini Arko Minnawi accused the RSF of looting a major marketplace in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. Sudanese media reported that RSF-affiliated fighters stormed the market, robbing shops and passers-by.
Minnawi condemned the attack as part of a deliberate campaign. “What happened today in Nyala – widespread looting by soldiers and wounded members of the terrorist RSF militia – is not random,” he wrote on Facebook. He accused the RSF of targeting traders from specific ethnic communities to impoverish and displace them as part of a long-term plan for demographic engineering.
The RSF did not immediately respond to the allegation.
Nyala has been under RSF control since October 2023 and now serves as headquarters for the Sudan Founding Alliance, a political coalition that announced a parallel government led by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo in July.
Across Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF holds all five in Darfur – except for pockets of northern North Darfur – while the army controls most territory in the south, east, north and central regions, including the capital, Khartoum.
