Saudi Arabia's top diplomat held talks in Washington on Wednesday, laying the groundwork for a visit by US President Donald Trump, which would be the first foreign trip of his second term.
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the State Department, and the two called on the Sudanese army and paramilitary forces to resume peace talks.
The diplomats "agreed that the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces must return to peace talks, protect civilians, open humanitarian corridors, and return to civilian governance," the State Department statement said following the meeting.
The call came after the Sudanese army said last week it had retaken full control of the capital Khartoum after weeks of attacks by the paramilitaries.
The RSF has been battling the army since April 2023, and the war has created what the United Nations describes as the world's worst hunger and displacement crises.
More than 12 million people have been uprooted, tens of thousands killed, and a UN-backed assessment declared famine in parts of the country.
The United States under Joe Biden and the Saudis have previously sponsored several unsuccessful rounds of negotiations to end the bloody conflict.
Trump said last month he may visit Saudi Arabia as early as April in a reprisal of 2017, when the oil-rich, conservative kingdom was the first destination of his first term in office.
The foreign minister's visit is aimed to "prepare for Trump's visit to Riyadh," a source close to the Saudi government said.
The source, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said "developments in Gaza, Yemen and Syria" were also on Prince Faisal's agenda.
Rubio and his Saudi counterpart on Wednesday "discussed diplomatic efforts in Gaza to release hostages and work towards a durable ceasefire," the State Department statement read.
Palestinian group Hamas should be "completely disarmed and disempowered" after fighting ends in the territory, it added.
In January, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, promised to pile $600 billion into US trade and investments.
Trump later said Saudi Arabia had agreed to "spend close to a trillion dollars... in our American companies, which to me means jobs."
Trump forged close relations with Riyadh in his first term and is expected to push Saudi Arabia, home of Islam's holiest sites, towards normalizing ties with Israel as a major foreign policy objective.
Trump in his first term also boasted of having protected Crown Prince Mohammed from greater repercussions over the killing of Saudi dissident and US resident Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
With AFP
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