Washington is trying to convince Sudan’s army chief to enter into a ceasefire with the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces. The White House fears that the civil war in Sudan will have negative repercussions on the stability of the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and the Middle East
Washington looks to Khartoum. Over the weekend, the special correspondent of Donald Trump for Africa, Massad Boulos, had a meeting in Egypt with the head of the Sudanese army, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. “We reaffirm the continued commitment of the United States, together with our Egyptian partners and other regional and international partners and allies, to promote a political solution to the crisis,” the US envoy said, referring to the Sudanese civil war and arguing that the lunch with al-Burhan would have been offered by the Egyptian president, Fattah al-Sisi. Khartoum’s version, however, was different. According to Reuters, a Sudanese official stated that the meeting was “casual”, and then denied that the two had a conversation.
Tensions between the US administration and Sudan
Be that as it may, what happened in Egypt occurred as a result of the tensions that arose last month between the administration Trump And al-Burhan. The Washington government had in fact denied the head of the Sudanese army the visa necessary to take part in the United Nations General Assembly and New York. According to rumors reported in the press at the time, the American administration made the issuing of the visa dependent on acceptance by al-Burhan of a ceasefire with the Rapid Support Forces: the paramilitary organization with which the Sudanese army has been in conflict since 2023. The point is that al-Burhan he does not seem willing to stipulate a truce: on Tuesday, he once again rejected this possibility, claiming that he wanted to conquer “every centimeter” of territory currently in the hands of the Rapid Support Forces.
This is an intransigence that is irritating Washington. In fact, the latter would like to quickly stabilize Sudan, defusing the ongoing civil war. Beyond the failure to issue a visa, the Trump administration used some particularly harsh words. “Neither the Sudanese Armed Forces, nor the Rapid Support Forces, nor their respective leaders represent a legitimate and constitutional government for Sudan: they govern solely by force of arms,” the US State Department spokesperson declared on September 22, Tommy Pigott. Meanwhile, the United States has asked the UN Security Council to decree an arms embargo on the entire Sudan, rather than limiting it to just the Darfur region.
The geopolitical chessboard of the Horn of Africa
In this context, it is likely that the meeting between Boulos And al-Burhani was aimed at easing tension between Washington and the military leaders in Khartoum. Furthermore, it is no mystery that the current US administration is looking with extreme attention at the African continent and the Red Sea. Washington recently lifted sanctions on Eritrea and is concerned about the growing tensions taking place between Asmara and Addis Ababa. “We strongly urge Ethiopia and Eritrea to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their neighbors, exercise maximum restraint, and return to dialogue and cooperation,” the US State Department said on October 3.
Furthermore, it is well known that Ethiopia aspires to obtain an outlet on the Red Sea. That Ethiopia which has, at the same time, accused Sudan, Eritrea and Egypt of fomenting the Tigrayan rebels: an accusation that the three countries have rejected. Not only that. The army of al-Burhani he in turn claimed that Addis Ababa was backing the Rapid Support Forces. Add to all this that the Sudanese civil war is also creating tensions between the United Arab Emirates (suspected of providing assistance to the paramilitaries) and Saudi Arabia (which is officially aligned with Khartoum). In short, the administration Trump aims to resolve the civil war in Sudan to defuse the fibrillations in North-East Africa and the Middle East, as well as to prevent a further crisis from breaking out close to the Red Sea. Will he succeed?
