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A new round of peace talks aimed at ending Sudan’s 16-month war has begun, although neither of the warring parties has entered the negotiating room.
The United States, which is leading the talks, insisted on continuing the talks no matter what, saying “we will do everything we can to end this terrible crisis in Sudan.”
Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed thousands, displaced around 10 million people and triggered what the United Nations calls “the world’s worst hunger crisis”.
The military said days ago it would boycott the talks, while RSF representatives travelled to Switzerland but said at the last minute they would not attend.
Hopes for a ceasefire were dashed when the military said it would not join the ceasefire because the Rapid Security Forces had not implemented what was “agreed” in Saudi Arabia last year.
The military said the paramilitary group had failed to meet key conditions of the Jeddah Declaration, such as withdrawing its fighters from civilian homes and public facilities.
Sudanese Armed Forces chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said: “Military operations will not stop unless all militias withdraw from the cities and villages they have looted and colonised.”
The Rapid Security Forces have denied allegations of looting and violence against civilians.
Until Tuesday evening, there was still hope that Sudanese troops would arrive at the talks. US special envoy for Sudan Tom Perillo said at 23:30 GMT (00:30 Swiss time) that delegates were “still waiting for the Sudanese armed forces”.
He posted on X: “The whole world is watching.”
Mr Perriello told the BBC that in their absence, other parties were “moving forward with negotiations on everything we can do to ensure that everyone in Sudan gets food and medicine and civilian protection”.
Sudan’s emergency relief team said late on Tuesday its arrival in Geneva was “a powerful testament to our resolve and determination to alleviate the suffering of the Sudanese people”. It called on Sudan’s army to join the talks.
However, the RSF was not present at the event on Wednesday when the talks began. The group has not publicly stated the reasons for its withdrawal.
Before the talks began and the Rapid Assistance Force withdrew, former UN chief coordinator in Sudan Mukesh Kapila said the mood among delegates was “quite low”.
“I think the warring parties are not interested in dialogue. One of the parties has not arrived yet and neither side expects much progress,” he told the BBC.
However, Perillo said he was “very, very hopeful” that the military would listen to the “overwhelming voice of the Sudanese people” and send representatives to Geneva for talks.
Previous peace talks between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have ended in failure.
Representatives from the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the African Union and the United Nations attended Wednesday’s ceremony.
In addition to citing the Jeddah Declaration, the Pakistani military also expressed opposition to the UAE’s attendance at the meeting as an observer.
The UAE has been accused of supplying weapons to the RSF, although the Gulf state denies involvement.
The United States said the United Arab Emirates and Egypt – also seen as having influence in the conflict – needed to attend the talks to help ensure the ceasefire was actually implemented.
According to the UN migration agency, Sudan will see tens of thousands of preventable deaths if the conflict and restrictions on humanitarian access continue.
As the Geneva talks opened, medical charity Doctors Without Borders said the last of Sudan’s besieged cities still functioning, El Fasher, could be forced to close due to intensive bombardment.
The surgical ward of a Saudi hospital was attacked on Sunday, killing a patient’s caregiver and injuring five others, the charity reported.
The Rapid Support Forces have been trying to seize the city from the army for months, forcing tens of thousands of civilians to flee.
This is the last city in the western region of Darfur still under government control, and the Rapid Security Forces have been accused of committing large-scale atrocities against the area’s non-Arab residents.
Additional reporting by Will Ross
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