Burhan signals talks with UAE

Sudan’s current diplomacy is moving on two tracks at once: war mediation in Khartoum and conflict-management around South Sudan’s stalled peace deal. The immediate trigger is General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s statement that he is open to talks with the United Arab Emirates, but only if Abu Dhabi stops backing the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. Middle East Eye reported on May 21 that Burhan set that condition as Bahrain tries to broker contact, while the same report said a ceasefire is not close. (middleeasteye.net) That matters because the UAE has become one of the central external actors in Sudan’s war. Sudan’s army has repeatedly accused Abu Dhabi of supporting the RSF, an allegation the UAE has denied in earlier public statements reported by The National and Middle East Eye. Burhan’s formulation does not amount to a breakthrough; it sets a precondition that goes to the core dispute over outside support for the paramilitary force fighting the army since April 2023. (middleeasteye.net) A second piece of the story is the push to rework the diplomatic format. The existing “Quad” on Sudan consists of the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, according to a U.S. State Department statement from September 2025. The National reported on May 22 that a U.N. envoy called for a transition to civilian rule in Sudan and suggested widening that format, an indication that current mediation channels are not producing a settlement. (state.gov) The significance of widening the Quad is procedural as much as political. Mediators have been trying to align several overlapping tracks — the Quad, the Jeddah channel, and African Union and IGAD efforts. An AU-IGAD statement in September 2025 said both bodies were ready to work with the Quad and advance an inclusive, civilian-led transition. The new proposal points to another attempt to knit those processes together rather than replace them outright. (au.int) South Sudan, meanwhile, is showing the same pattern of active diplomacy without clear movement. Eye Radio reported this week that the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, or RJMEC, told lawmakers implementation of the peace deal had “considerably faltered,” with gains from the last seven years being eroded by political and security tensions. That warning adds context to the regional shuttle diplomacy around Juba, where AU envoy Jakaya Kikwete has been meeting leaders and political actors. (eyeradio.org) Kikwete’s recent mission has focused on keeping South Sudan’s transition on schedule. Eye Radio reported in April that he arrived in Juba to help break a political deadlock, and later said he received assurances from President Salva Kiir that elections would go ahead in December 2026 without another extension of the transition. Those contacts suggest the African Union is still trying to preserve the existing framework even as monitors warn it is slipping. (eyeradio.org) There was also a narrower, practical sign of cross-border coordination in Geneva. On May 21, Sudan’s health minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim met South Sudan’s health minister Luke Thompson Thoan on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly, which the WHO says runs from May 18 to May 23 in Geneva. Reports on the meeting said the two sides discussed epidemics, information-sharing and joint border health operations. (fananews.com) Taken together, the developments point to maintenance-level diplomacy rather than a negotiated breakthrough. In Sudan, Burhan has left the door open to talks but only on terms that target the UAE’s alleged role in the war. In South Sudan, monitors are warning that the peace deal is fraying even as AU envoys, regional leaders and ministers keep up contacts designed to stop further deterioration. (middleeasteye.net)