Sudan peace talks on hold amid escalating conflict, as Egypt, Türkiye issue travel advisories

The leader of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has visited Ethiopia and Uganda on his first trip abroad since war broke out with Sudan’s army in April, as regional diplomats scramble to broker a face-to-face meeting between both warring sides.
The RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo Thursday (28 December) met with Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen, after stopping in Uganda a day earlier where he held talks with President Yoweri Museveni. Sources close to the RSF say that Dagalo is also expected to visit Kenya in coming days. The RSF leader has said he “put forward our vision to engage in negotiations, cease hostilities, and rebuild the Sudanese state based on new, just foundations.” This comes after a highly anticipated face-to-face meeting between Dagalo and his rival, Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah Burhan, initially scheduled to take place Thursday in Djibouti, was postponed due to “technical reasons.”
The meeting between al-Burhan and Dagalo was facilitated by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an eight-member East African regional body, which has been trying to bring the warring generals together since war erupted eight months ago. Amid the escalating fighting between their forces, which has killed over 12,000 people by some conservative estimates, and forced millions to flee, has prompted several countries to urge their citizens to leave Sudan. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has urged all its nationals, regardless of their location in Sudan, including areas not directly affected by the violence, to leave the war-torn country as soon as possible. Also Türkiye has urged its citizens to avoid traveling to Sudan unless absolutely necessary.