Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), has dampened prospects for a US-led peace plan, vowing on July 24 in Khartoum North to eliminate the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and declaring no place for the group “after today,” according to Sudan Tribune.
Burhan’s remarks did not formally reject the plan. But combined with the SAF-led government’s demand for full RSF withdrawal from occupied cities, they leave the initiative facing what amounts to a conditional refusal.
The US proposal, seen by Reuters, calls for a 90-day truce, talks on a permanent ceasefire, and a civilian-led transition, without preconditions. Sudan’s government accepted most of it but demanded full RSF withdrawal; the RSF accepted the truce but rejected that clause, continuing operations in Kordofan.
Saudi Arabia, a US mediation partner, is aligned with SAF, according to UK Home Office guidance citing ACLED. Yet that alignment has not visibly translated into leverage: repeated Saudi- and US-backed initiatives, including multiple Jeddah rounds since 2023, have failed to secure a lasting ceasefire.
One factor may be Sudan’s parallel courtship of Russia, which shifted from arming the RSF to backing SAF in 2025 in exchange for weapons and a proposed Red Sea naval base near Port Sudan – a deal Khartoum says remains under discussion despite reported Saudi objections.
