UN envoy sees Sudan combatants more open to talks
Warring sides in Sudan are more open to negotiations and have accepted the conflict that erupted two weeks ago cannot continue, a UN official has said, a possible flicker of hope even as fighting continued.
Volker Perthes, UN special representative in Sudan, said the sides had nominated representatives for talks which had been suggested for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, or Juba in South Sudan, though he said there was a practical question over whether they could get there to “actually sit together”.
He said no timeline had been set for talks.
Perthes noted that he had told the Security Council both sides thought they could win the conflict, most recently in a briefing a couple of days ago, but he also said attitudes were changing.
“They both think they will win, but they are both sort of more open to negotiations, the word ‘negotiations’ or ‘talks’ was not there in their discourse in the first week or so,” he said.
While the sides had made statements that the other side had to “surrender or die,” Perthes said, they were also saying, “ok we accept … some form of talks”.
“They have both accepted that this war cannot continue,” he added.
