In a call with the UAE foreign minister, Rubio stressed the need for a humanitarian ceasefire and action on arms supplies to the Rapid Support Forces, which seized al-Fashir on 26 October after an 18-month siege.

He spoke days after warning that “something needs to be done” to stop external support as the war, which began in April 2023, becomes what the U.N. calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.

Rubio Presses UAE On Ceasefire

Rubio’s call with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed underlined Washington’s focus on both a humanitarian pause and the RSF’s external support base.

He told reporters the U.S. is doing “everything we can” to end the fighting and is applying pressure through a regional “Quad” that includes the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

While avoiding naming Abu Dhabi directly, he said “we know who the parties are that are involved,” signalling that arms routes are now central to U.S. diplomacy.

Al-Fashir Fall Deepens Darfur Crisis

The RSF’s capture of al-Fashir on 26 October cemented its control over all major cities in Darfur after more than two and a half years of war with the Sudanese army.

Witness accounts and satellite imagery cited by officials describe massacres, piles of bodies and blood-stained ground visible from space. Non-Arab communities across Darfur are said to be targeted in what U.S. officials and humanitarian groups have described as genocide.

A joint statement by G7 foreign ministers warned of systematic murder, rape and sexual violence against civilians.

Arms Routes, Embargo Gaps Under Scrutiny

Sudan’s army accuses the UAE of supplying weapons and mercenaries to the RSF via African transit states, allegations U.N. experts and some lawmakers find credible but that Abu Dhabi strongly denies.

Investigations cited by those experts point to weapons manufactured in Serbia, Russia, China, Türkiye, Yemen and the UAE being used in Sudan, often moved via Gulf hubs into Chad and then Darfur.

There has been a U.N. arms embargo on Darfur since 2004, but not on the rest of Sudan, leaving a wider two-year-long civil war largely outside formal global controls.

Rubio said the RSF lacks domestic arms production and relies on foreign supply lines, and he did not rule out a U.S. terrorist designation if it would help stop the flow.