The UN Security Council demanded an immediate end to hostilities in Sudan on Friday, which prompted Russia to charge that the US is applying double standards and China to remind it not to forget about the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
The resolution, written by the British, called for an immediate pause of hostilities during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins early next week. Russia abstained, but the other 14 council members supported the proposal.
On April 15, 2023, the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) went to war in Sudan. Nearly 25 million people, or half of Sudan’s population, according to the U.N., require aid; 8 million have fled their homes; and the number of hungry people is growing. According to Washington, war crimes have been perpetrated by the belligerents.
A U.N. sanctions monitors assessment seen by Reuters in January stated that between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed in one city alone in Sudan’s West Darfur area last year in ethnic violence by the RSF and associated Arab militia.
The U.S. is being accused of “double standards” by Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Anna Evstigneeva, for “dragging out the adoption of a document on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” where over 30,000 Palestinians have died in the last five months, according to health authorities.
“The United States repeatedly exercises its veto power, bides its time, and insists that we wait for the outcomes of its direct diplomacy on the ground. “There is no proposal of that kind for Sudan,” she informed the council prior to the decision.
Since the battle started on October 7, when Hamas assaulted Israel and killed 1,200 people while capturing 253 hostages, the United States has vetoed three draft council resolutions, according to Israeli statistics. Israel, an ally of Washington, struck back, attacking the Palestinian militants in Gaza from the air and on land.
China’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Dai Bing, reminded the Security Council, “The Security Council must remember that the people of Gaza are still suffering under bombardment, while adopting a resolution on a ceasefire during the month of Ramadan in the Sudan.” “The international community must push for immediate ceasefire.”
In the council, the US did not address China’s and Russia’s comments over Gaza. The United States is in the process of working on a draft resolution endorsing “an immediate ceasefire of roughly six-weeks in Gaza together with the release of all hostages,” but it has stated that it will not be voting on the resolution right away.
The U.N. would pour in more aid if there was a truce in Sudan, according to U.N. aid head Martin Griffiths, who also stated earlier on Friday that “ten million Sudanese have become food insecure because of this conflict that should never have started.”
during Thursday’s Security Council meeting. An end to Ramadan was advocated by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Speaking to the council on Thursday, Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed, stated that while the president of the country’s transitional council had praised Guterres’ call, “he’s wondering about how to do this.”
“All those who would like to see that appeal transformed into action are welcome … to present a mechanism for implementation of it,” the ambassador from Sudan stated.
Michelle Nichols reporting for the United Nations David Ljunggren and Matthew Lewis edited.
