The United States on Monday, August 24, 2026, urged the UN Security Council to strengthen sanctions against Sudan’s warring parties in an effort to pressure them into negotiations to end the conflict.
Massad Boulos, US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, told the Security Council that continued financial, military and political support from external actors was helping to prolong the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
A US-drafted resolution proposes expanding the existing UN arms embargo on Darfur to cover the whole of Sudan and all parties operating in the country. The restrictions would also explicitly cover drones and related technologies, which have become increasingly prominent in the conflict.
The proposed resolution calls on countries to end direct or indirect logistical, financial and military support that enables the fighting to continue.
Sudan’s war grew out of a power struggle following the April 2019 overthrow of longtime President Omar al-Bashir. Fighting later erupted between army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and RSF commander Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
However, Burhan said on Monday, August 24, 2026, that new sanctions would not deter the military from continuing its campaign until all areas controlled by the RSF were recapture. The conflict, now in its fourth year, has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced about 13 million and pushed parts of Sudan into famine.
UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council that despite several diplomatic initiatives, the warring sides remained committed to a military solution, stressing the need for greater international action to push them towards peace negotiations.
