UN Council Extends Darfur Arms Embargo for a Month as US Push for Nationwide Ban Stalls

The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on Friday to extend the arms embargo on Sudan's western Darfur region for one month, buying time for negotiations on a contested American proposal to widen the restrictions to cover the entire country.

The short-term rollover underscored the difficulty Washington and its allies face in mustering support for a nationwide embargo aimed at pressing Sudan's warring parties toward a negotiated end to a conflict now in its fourth year.

Russia, which holds a veto on the council and has backed the Sudanese government against paramilitary forces, made clear it would not permit any broadening of the measures. Deputy UN ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said Moscow had set out its "red lines" in closed talks, adding that Russia would not allow "even a hint" of expanded council restrictions on Sudan.

She questioned the timing of the US push, asking why the embargo should be widened now, when government forces hold a clear advantage on the ground, rather than in 2023, when the Rapid Support Forces were threatening Khartoum and other cities. The government, she argued, is what upholds the country's unity, its institutions and the protection of civilians.

China's deputy UN ambassador Sun Lei warned that extending the embargo could deepen the humanitarian crisis and risk fragmenting Sudan, with consequences for regional stability.

Sudan's UN ambassador, Al-Harith Mohamed, told the council that a total arms embargo would conflict with the UN Charter's guarantee of the right to self-defence, including the right of national armed forces to produce and acquire weapons to protect sovereignty.

The Darfur embargo dates to 2003, when rebels took up arms against the government then led by Omar al-Bashir. Khartoum responded with air strikes and a ground campaign by Arab nomadic militias known as the Janjaweed, who have been accused of mass killings and rapes. Up to 300,000 people died in that conflict and 2.7 million were displaced.

At a council meeting on August 24, the United States urged a countrywide embargo to push the Sudanese army and the RSF to negotiate an end to fighting that began in April 2023. That war has killed at least 59,000 people, though aid groups warn the true toll may be far higher. It has displaced some 13 million people and driven parts of the country into famine, producing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

US deputy ambassador Jeffrey Bartos said another long-term extension limited to Darfur "is not an option," describing the measure as outdated and inadequate for the current war. He called for sanctions against those responsible for atrocities, including sexual violence, kidnapping for ransom and attacks on humanitarian workers.

"Inaction means more suffering and death," Bartos said, adding that Washington would not "rubber stamp another year of maintaining the status quo." He repeated the US call for an end to arms flows to the belligerents from outside parties and condemned attacks on aid convoys, citing the loss of more than 50 metric tons of assistance last week when clearly marked World Food Programme trucks were struck in an aerial attack in South Kordofan.

Carl Skau, acting director of the World Food Programme, said in an interview during a recent visit to Sudan that funding shortfalls had forced the agency to cut the number of people it assists from about 5 million at the start of the year to 3.5 million, with the risk of further reductions.

"The world keeps sending weapons when they should be sending food and shelter," Skau said, arguing that attention and effort should be directed at ending the conflict.