Joint Statement on Sudan by 'the Quad' - Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and USA

On September 12, 2025, the four members of 'the Quad' - United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Egypt—each holding varying degrees of influence over both Sudan’s regular armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—issued a joint roadmap aimed at ending the brutal war that has raged since April 2023.  The statement came out of meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly between the foreign ministers of the four countries.  

The joint statement backed the unity of Sudan, but it was unclear whether the warring parties were willing to engage.  The army currently controls Sudan's east, north and center, while the RSF holds most of the Darfur region, where it has declared a parallel government fueling fears of a de-facto partition.

The Quad plan calls for:

• a three-month humanitarian truce, during which aid access must be opened, civilians protected, and indiscriminate attacks halt;

• follow-up with a permanent ceasefire; 

• then a nine-month transitional process toward civilian rule, reflecting the aspirations of the Sudanese people, not controlled by either warring faction. 

They made clear: there is no military solution in Sudan, and the ongoing status quo is inflicting intolerable suffering.   

Joint Statement - Full Text 

At the invitation of the United States, Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates have engaged in extensive consultations on the conflict in Sudan, recalling that it has provoked the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and poses grave risks to regional peace and security. Ministers committed to a shared set of principles with regard to ending the conflict in Sudan.

First, Sudan’s sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity are essential for peace and stability.

Second, there is no viable military solution to the conflict, and the status quo creates unacceptable suffering and risks to peace and security.

Third, all parties to the conflict must facilitate rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access and assistance throughout Sudan and through all necessary routes, protect civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law and their commitments under the Jeddah Declaration, and refrain from indiscriminate aerial and ground attacks on civilian infrastructure.

Fourth, Sudan’s future governance is for the Sudanese people to decide through an inclusive and transparent transition process, not controlled by any warring party. The Ministers called for a humanitarian truce, for an initial three months, to enable the swift entry of humanitarian aid to all parts of Sudan, to lead immediately to a permanent ceasefire, then an inclusive and transparent transition process should be launched and concluded within nine months to meet the aspirations of the Sudanese people towards smoothly establishing an independent, civilian-led government with broad-based legitimacy and accountability, which is vital for the long-term stability of Sudan and the preservation of its state Institutions. Sudan’s future cannot be dictated by violent extremist groups part of or evidently linked to the Muslim brotherhood, whose destabilizing influence has fueled violence and instability across the region.

The ministers agreed to closely follow up the implementation of these timelines and affirmed their readiness to exercise their good offices and carry out all necessary efforts to ensure the full implementation by the parties, including to reconvene to discuss further steps.

Fifth, external military support to the conflict parties in Sudan serves to intensify and prolong the conflict and contribute to regional instability. Accordingly, an end to external military support is essential to ending the conflict.

Ministers also committed to the following commitments for their further engagement in support of a peaceful resolution: 

* To exert all efforts to support a negotiated settlement of the conflict with the active participation of SAF and RSF;
*To press all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure and ensure humanitarian assistance reaches those in need;
* To promote conditions that ensure the security of the broader Red Sea region;
* To counter transnational security threats from terrorist and extremist organizations and the conditions that allow them to metastasize; and
* To deny space to those destabilizing regional and domestic actors who seek to benefit from continued conflict in Sudan.

Ministers underscored their commitment to restoring peace and ending the suffering of the Sudanese people, as well as their preparedness to engage in concert with African and Arab states and institutions, the United Nations, and international partners to those ends.

Ministers discussed pressing humanitarian and early recovery requirements and underscored the need to continue to galvanize the international community to this end and to build on recent humanitarian meetings.

Ministers confirmed their intention to continue discussions, consultations, and meetings, at the ministerial and sub-ministerial levels, to further their coordinated efforts in support of ending the conflict in Sudan, including support towards the establishment and implementation of an inclusive and transparent transition. Towards this end, Ministers expressed support to efforts by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, through the Jeddah process to achieve a permanent ceasefire in Sudan, as well as the efforts by Egypt with regards to the Sudanese civil and political forces forum which held its first round in Cairo during July 2024. The Ministers agreed to continue their consultations in this regard during the Quad ministerial meeting in September 2025.

End Text.