The United Arab Emirates on Saturday urged the UN Security Council to extend its arms embargo across all of Sudan and to all parties to the conflict, after the council agreed to a one-month extension of the existing sanctions regime.
“Such a measure would help stem the flow of weapons to the belligerents, protect civilians, and support efforts to end the conflict,” it said in a statement.
“Sudan is enduring one of the world’s most devastating humanitarian crises. Urgent international action is needed to compel both warring parties and their affiliated militias to end hostilities and ensure safe, rapid and unhindered humanitarian access.”
The UAE said the council should use the additional month to “reach agreement on meaningful measures that respond to the realities of the conflict and contribute to bringing it to an end”.
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a US-drafted resolution on Friday extending sanctions on Sudan for one month, as Washington pressed members to use the brief window to negotiate an expansion of the arms embargo.
The resolution renews the sanctions regime until October 9, rather than extending it for another year, with the United States warning it would not accept a longer rollover without changes reflecting the conflict on the ground.
US senior adviser Massad Boulos said Washington backed the short-term extension after consultations with allies, but warned that simply maintaining the existing sanctions regime for another year was not acceptable.
“Following consultations with our allies and others, we support a short-term technical rollover of the UNSC resolution on Sudan’s arms embargo. This step creates additional space for diplomacy at a critical moment for the Sudanese people,” Mr Boulos said in a statement.
“As we have made clear, a long-term technical rollover of this mandate is not an option. We call on the UNSC to use this time to negotiate in good faith an expansion of the embargo that will address the current realities of the conflict.”
“Any member considering opposing an arms embargo expansion risks abetting those who are destroying Sudan. Inaction means more suffering and death. That is unacceptable, and we refuse to rubber stamp another year of maintaining the status quo.”
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya told Council members on Friday that Moscow would not support any expansion of the sanctions, insisting the resolution should be limited to a technical rollover.
“We will not allow even a hint of broadening the restrictions by the Council against Sudan,” Mr Nebenzya said.
He questioned why tougher measures were being sought then, arguing that Sudan’s government and armed forces then held an advantage on the ground and were key to preserving the country’s institutions and unity.
The debate comes as fighting intensifies in Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile, alongside the growing use of drones and other advanced weapons. Concerns have also mounted over foreign military support and the flow of weapons and fighters into Sudan.
With arms continuing to reach the warring parties and violence spreading beyond Darfur, some Council members and civil society groups have called for the sanctions regime, currently focused on Darfur, to be expanded across Sudan.
The UAE said it would continue working with its Quad partners and supporting efforts by the Quintet and other international and regional actors to find a political settlement.
“There is no military solution to the conflict in Sudan,” the UAE said, adding that the only path to lasting peace was an independent, civilian-led transition free from the influence of the warring parties and extremist groups.
