Sudanese Army Undecided on Further Peace Talks

According to Sudanese military sources, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have yet to decide on if they will accept an invitation from the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to attend a second round of talks in Geneva, Switzerland, this time to be mediated by the US, with Saudi Arabia as a co-host..The Next Step.A statement issued by the US State Department invited both the SAF and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to attend talks in Switzerland, aimed at producing a ceasefire and putting an end to the war in Sudan that has been ongoing for over a year..The talks that are planned by the US follow recent talks, held from July 11th to the 19th in Geneva and mediated by the UN..The talks were indirect, with the two sides' delegations meeting with Ramtane Lamamra, the UN Secretary General's Personal Envoy to Sudan, but never with each other. While the talks were unable to produce any ceasefires, temporary or permanent, the RSF committed to cooperating with an RSF-aligned Sudanese humanitarian organization in order to expand aid access to Sudanese in need of aid. No other commitments arose from the meeting..The new talks organized by the US are hoping to build upon the momentum of the July talks, which were the first such publicly-known talks between the two sides since talks hosted by Saudi Arabia in Jeddah broke down last year..The RSF, after the invitation was issued by the State Department, quickly announced its intention to participate in the talks..The SAF has not been so keen, however, with Sudanese military sources saying the decision has yet to be made. Further, the SAF's decision will apparently be communicated to the US' Special Envoy to Sudan, Tom Perriello, who is set to travel to Port Sudan for a meeting with the SAF in early August..The US invitation sets the starting date for the talks as August 14th, and so it is likely the SAF's decision will be announced within the next week or so..According to the invitation, the UAE, Egypt, the African Union, and the UN will attend the talks as observers with the US and Saudi Arabia acting as co-hosts. These talks are similar to previous talks in Jeddah, which the US and Saudi Arabia have unsuccessfully attempted to revive on numerous occasions since their end in November..The talks including the UAE is particularly significant as the UAE has been accused of supplying the RSF with military equipment that has allowed them to continue fighting against the SAF. The accusations have most prominently come from Sudan, however several other sources, including the UN, have described the accusations as "credible."