Five Blocs in Khartoum: Quintet Envoys Open First Wartime Peace Talks in Sudan
SUDAN · DIPLOMACY
Key Facts
- —What happened Envoys of the African Union, the East African bloc IGAD, the Arab League, the European Union and the United Nations — the Quintet — began their first visit to Khartoum since the war started, with talks running from Tuesday to Thursday.
- —Who is in town UN Personal Envoy Pekka Haavisto has been in Sudan since September 4 and has already met army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Prime Minister Kamil Idris and the leaders of two armed movements that sided with the army.
- —The agenda The talks focus on de-escalation, protecting civilians, and the release or exchange of prisoners and civilian detainees, working with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
- —The format The envoys are meeting a civilian-only preparatory panel that excludes the warring generals, and several of Sudan’s main political coalitions have rejected the initiative.
- —The backdrop Sudan’s war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has run since April 2023 and has displaced around 13 million people, the world’s largest displacement crisis.
For the first time since Sudan’s war began in April 2023, the five outside powers and blocs trying to end it are in Khartoum together. They are talking to civilians, not to the generals, and several of the civilian coalitions they need have already refused to join.
A first visit, three years in
The Quintet — the African Union (AU), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the League of Arab States, the European Union and the United Nations — announced on Monday that its principals would hold direct political consultations in Khartoum from September 8 to 10, hearing Sudanese assessments of the war and presenting its own work so far.
It is the group’s first mission to Sudan since the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF began in April 2023. In its statement, the Quintet said it remains in close coordination with the Quad — the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates — to advance what it called a coherent and viable path towards peace.
That division of labour matters. The Quad holds the leverage over the generals and their foreign sponsors; the Quintet is trying to build the civilian political track that would follow any ceasefire.
Haavisto’s groundwork
The UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Sudan, the former Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto, arrived ahead of the group and has been in the country since September 4. Over the weekend he met General al-Burhan, who chairs the Sovereignty Council and commands the army, as well as Prime Minister Kamil Idris, Finance Minister and Justice and Equality Movement leader Jibril Ibrahim, and Sudan Liberation Movement leader Minni Arko Minnawi.
Haavisto said he had conveyed messages on de-escalation and civilian protection, and that he looked forward to working towards an exchange of prisoners and civilian detainees with the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Red Cross says more than 11,000 people are registered missing in Sudan, over 9,000 of them since the war began.
The replies he received in Khartoum came with conditions. Idris told him Sudan’s leadership would not compromise on sovereignty and rejected foreign intervention, and Jibril Ibrahim said his movement opposes extending the Darfur arms embargo to the whole country.
A civilian table with empty chairs
The Quintet’s bet is a civilian-only political process. The envoys are meeting an independent Sudanese preparatory panel whose purpose is to build support for a dialogue that explicitly excludes the two warring generals, al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti.
The problem is that several of Sudan’s key political coalitions have already rejected the call, questioning whether any negotiation is viable while the fighting continues. The Quintet itself has also shown cracks, with members at odds over the neutrality of the mediation ahead of the trip.
That leaves the envoys in Khartoum talking to a civilian panel that parts of the civilian opposition refuse to recognise, about a ceasefire that neither general has accepted.
Why the diplomacy is moving now
The war’s geography is shifting. The army has recently retaken ground in North Kordofan and is pressing towards Sodari, while in Blue Nile state an alliance of the RSF and the SPLM-North rebel movement has seized bases near the Ethiopian border, a front we covered when the RSF claimed two army bases in Blue Nile and when drone strikes killed civilians travelling in North Kordofan.
More than 1.6 million people have returned to Khartoum in recent months even as drones hit the capital’s airport, and UN agencies have reopened offices in the city for the first time since the war began. A mediation format that works in Khartoum is only possible because the army now holds the capital — which also means the army believes it is winning.
That is the central difficulty. Diplomatic access has improved precisely because the military balance has shifted, and a side that believes it is winning rarely negotiates.
What to watch
The first concrete deliverable would be a prisoner and detainee exchange framework with the Red Cross, the one area where both sides have signalled willingness to engage.
The second is whether the rejecting coalitions can be brought in. A civilian track that the main opposition groups boycott would hand the generals an easy reason to ignore it.
The third is the Quad. Without pressure from Washington, Riyadh, Cairo and Abu Dhabi on their respective allies, the Quintet’s good offices are a conversation without consequences.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Quintet?
It is a joint mediation format grouping the African Union, the East African bloc IGAD, the Arab League, the European Union and the United Nations. It works alongside the Quad of the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
Why is this visit a first?
Sudan’s war began in April 2023, and Khartoum was a battlefield for most of it. This is the Quintet’s first joint mission to the country since the fighting started, made possible by the army’s recapture of the capital.
Are the warring generals at the table?
No. The envoys are meeting a civilian-only preparatory panel, and the format deliberately excludes army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. UN envoy Pekka Haavisto has met Burhan separately.
How bad is the humanitarian situation?
Around 13 million people have been displaced, the world’s largest displacement crisis. The UN’s 2026 appeal for Sudan seeks US$2.9 billion and was only about 16 percent funded earlier this year.
Connected Coverage
For the battlefield behind the diplomacy, see our reports on drone strikes killing travellers in North Kordofan and the RSF’s claimed advance in Blue Nile, as well as the wider spread of the war.
Sources: Radio Dabanga – Quintet makes first Sudan visit for political talks, September 2026 · African Union – Quintet statement ahead of the Khartoum visit, September 2026 · Radio Dabanga – UN envoy presses Sudan leader on truce and prisoner exchange, 7 September 2026 · Sudan Tribune – civilian dialogue panel to meet international envoys as coalitions reject call, September 2026
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