When Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi hosted Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Cairo last week, the encounter may have appeared to be just another diplomatic exchange over the grinding Sudanese war.
But in fact, it was evidence of a renewed and serious US-backed push to finally get a handle on the conflict.
Already, there seem to be results. Diplomats told Middle East Eye that representatives of Burhan’s government and its enemy, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), were both in Washington for indirect talks.
According to an Egyptian presidential source, US President Donald Trump has personally tasked Sisi to work on ending Sudan’s civil war.
Sisi invited Burhan to Cairo after holding a private meeting with Trump during the Gaza summit in Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month.
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“The two presidents discussed the crisis in Sudan, the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there, and Washington’s concerns that continued fighting could destabilise the wider region, as Trump urged Sisi to work on ending the conflict as swiftly as possible,” the source said.
Sudan’s war broke out in April 2023 when tensions over plans to fold the RSF into the regular military exploded into a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 13 million more.
For the past two years, diplomatic efforts to address the war have been lacklustre, to say the least. Yet the Trump administration appears to be taking a much more assertive role after ramming through a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Trump expressed serious concern over the consequences of Sudan’s war, particularly the risk of arms trafficking into Gaza through the border with Egypt, and the possibility of Sudan turning into a hub for political Islam and the armed militant groups there,” the Egyptian presidential source said.
“Trump warned that the turmoil could also fuel tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia,” the source said, adding that “the US president viewed these dynamics as threats that must be contained to restore calm to the Horn of Africa.”
Humanitarian ceasefire
Delegations representing Burhan’s Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF quietly arrived in Washington on Thursday morning.
The talks initially began indirectly, with the delegations occupying separate rooms in the State Department, and they are expected to continue through the weekend, a diplomat told MEE.
MEE understands that Sudanese Foreign Minister Mohi al-Din Salem is attending, alongside Christopher Landau, the US deputy secretary of state.
Also attending are senior officials from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, countries that together with the US make up the Quad, four states tasked with finding a resolution to the Sudanese war.
Sudanese media reports suggest that the talks began in a tough manner, with the RSF delegation demanding an investigation into alleged SAF war crimes.
The SAF, meanwhile, has attempted to play down its role in Washington, asking mediators to keep the talks secret and far from the eyes of the media.
The Sudanese government late on Thursday denied there were any indirect talks with the RSF, but on Friday acknowledged Salem was in Washington.
‘Trump expressed serious concern over the consequences of Sudan’s war, particularly the risk of arms trafficking into Gaza through the border with Egypt’
– Egyptian presidential source
According to the diplomat, the main agenda is securing an interim humanitarian truce that would last for at least two months.
After agreeing on that, talks will likely resume later this month about negotiating a permanent ceasefire.
“The talks would continue at the end of October with the higher-level representation from the warring parties, as well as the Quad states,” the source said.
“US Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos has led the talks with the two sides since the beginning of October, sending them the Quad’s suggestions on a roadmap.”
The SAF has long insisted that it will not deal with the RSF or countenance any future where it is involved in governing Sudan.
Though the Sudanese military has seized much territory from the paramilitaries over the past year, including the capital Khartoum, the RSF controls almost all the vast western region of Darfur and has set up a parallel government.
Meanwhile, both sides are trading blows on the ground, with mutual air strikes targeting strategic locations and infrastructure.
RSF drones have hit Khartoum airport for three consecutive days, while SAF jets bombed an airbase in Nyala, where the RSF’s parallel government is based.
A source familiar with the talks’ progress noted that in this context, bringing the RSF and SAF together will be very difficult.
“There are many other challenges,” they warned, “regarding the redeployment of the troops on the ground, the routes of the humanitarian aid, and the monitoring of the deal, among other important issues related to the military and technical ways to implement the deal”.
Regional issues
The talks include Egypt as a member of the Quad for the first time in place of the UK, which Egyptian officials say reflects that the White House recognises Cairo has influence over Burhan.
They also see it as a diplomatic rehabilitation for Egypt.
In recent years, Cairo has sought to reposition itself as a stabilising power after years of regional marginalisation, particularly as the war in Sudan edges dangerously close to its southern frontier.
“Trump trusts Sisi’s leverage with Burhan,” said a second Egyptian official familiar with the coordination. “Egypt is uniquely placed: it understands Sudan’s military establishment and can talk to all sides without alienating anyone.”
Meanwhile, the presidential source said that both “Trump and Sisi agreed during the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting that the solution to the Sudan conflict shouldn’t rest solely in Burhan’s hands”.
“Sisi made it clear to Burhan during their meeting that no Sudanese actor should be excluded – including the Rapid Support Forces – to avoid creating fresh regional frictions, particularly with the UAE, which continues to back them,” the source said.
Though it denies materially supporting the RSF, which has been accused of genocide and a raft of other war crimes, there is mounting evidence that the UAE continues to send weapons and other forms of aid, such as Colombian mercenaries, to the paramilitaries.
For Egypt, the turmoil next door has become an urgent national security concern.
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Cairo has long seen Sudan’s army as a buffer against instability spreading north and a key ally in protecting its southern frontier.
Wary of the RSF presence near its border, Egypt has sought to quietly reinforce diplomatic channels backing Burhan’s forces while avoiding direct military involvement.
There has been some evidence, however, that Egypt has even supported the SAF militarily, like providing warplanes and pilots in the war’s earliest days.
As the RSF tightens its grip on northwestern trade routes, Cairo’s influence risks being eroded by the growing reach of the UAE and the forces of eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar.
Cameron Hudson, a former CIA analyst now with the Atlantic Council think tank, believes the conflicts of interest between Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia risk undermining the US push for a resolution.
“The US approach to Sudan has not been focused on solving Sudan’s internal problems, but rather trying to manage the wider region’s competition for influence in Sudan. The challenge for Washington is that all these actors are America’s allies and it wants to bring peace without having to be tough on its friends,” Hudson told MEE.
“All of these countries are playing a role in the Sudan conflict, some in bigger ways than others. Their interests have to be accounted for to make peace in Sudan, but there is always a risk that they could undermine the peace process from the inside as part of an effort to help their preferred side. But they could also undermine the peace from the outside if they are not included.”
Kholood Khair, director of Confluence Advisory, believes that some sort of agreement is imminent.
“It is clear there is leverage on the table against SAF and RSF to push them to sign, possibly against Egypt and UAE’s wishes,” she told MEE.
The Sudanese military will also have difficulty disassociating itself from adherents of political Islam and Iran, which has supplied it with weapons, she warned.
