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Both sides have nominated representatives for the talks, for which Juba in neighboring South Sudan and Jidda in Saudi Arabia have been proposed as venues. A timetable for the talks has not yet been set. A practical question is also whether the emissaries might actually get there for a meeting.

Jidda has been offered as a site for “military-technical” talks, while Juba has been named as part of a regional proposal by East African states for political talks, Perthes said. The immediate task, however, is to develop a monitoring mechanism for a ceasefire, since ceasefires that have already been agreed several times have not held.

The ceasefire, which was extended by three days on Thursday, was not observed on Saturday either. Airstrikes, anti-aircraft weapons and artillery might be heard in Khartoum in the morning. Dark smoke rose over parts of the capital. The situation for the population continues to worsen. Many people barely have access to food, fuel, water and electricity. The fighting broke out on April 15 in the course of a power struggle between the army and the RSF militia. Since then, more than 500 people have been killed. Even before the fighting, regarding a third of the 46 million Sudanese were in need of help.

The prospects of direct negotiations between the leaders of the two conflicting parties have recently been rather slim. Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said in an interview on Friday that he would never sit down with RSF chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, whom he described as a “rebel” leader. Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, said he would not negotiate until the army ceased hostilities. The fighting is said to have been triggered by a dispute over the integration of the RSF militia into the military as part of the transition to a civilian government. Officially, RSF chief Hemedti is the deputy of ruler al-Burhan, who heads the military council.

According to Perthes, the two military groups’ unyielding attitudes are gradually changing. “Both sides believe they will win, but they are also more open to negotiations,” the UN special envoy said. The words “negotiations” or “talks” did not occur to them in the early days of the fighting. Both sides have declared that the other side must “surrender or die”. But they also said, “Okay, we accept… some form of talks”.

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