U.S. President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, Massad Boulos, met Sudanese military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Egypt as Washington pushes the warring sides to accept a 90-day humanitarian ceasefire and resume political talks.
Boulos said on Monday he attended a luncheon hosted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in New Alamein on Sunday alongside Burhan, on the sidelines of the African Union’s mid-year coordination meeting.
In a post on X, Boulos said the United States remains committed to Sudan’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity and would work with Egypt and other regional and international partners to help end the war and ease humanitarian suffering.
The meeting came less than two weeks after Washington withheld a visa for Burhan to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The decision was reportedly linked to a U.S. proposal for a 90-day ceasefire that Burhan had resisted.
Boulos said the U.S. initiative is aimed at ending the fighting, easing humanitarian suffering and creating conditions for reconstruction and a transition to civilian government through an inclusive, Sudanese-led political process.
He also said he had discussed efforts to end the war with U.N. Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan Pekka Haavisto, as regional and international powers intensify diplomatic efforts to broker a settlement.
The engagement highlights the difficult balance in U.S. policy towards Sudan. Washington is seeking to engage the leaders of the rival armed forces while maintaining that neither side represents legitimate constitutional government.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said on Sept. 22 that the actions of Burhan and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, had disqualified them from leading Sudan. He said neither side represented constitutional rule and that both were governing through force of arms.
Sudan has been at war since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the army and the RSF. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Egypt, which maintains close ties with Sudan’s army leadership, has also been involved in diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
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