The United States has refused to grant a visa to Sudanese army commander General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to attend and address the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
According to news agencies, the US conditioned the visa on al-Burhan accepting a three-month ceasefire proposal, citing diplomatic sources. Al-Burhan’s government has rejected the proposal, arguing that a truce would only allow the RSF to regroup and attack, and Washington has withheld the visa.
Since April 15, 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a devastating war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. No regional, international or UN initiative has halted it so far.
According to Reuters, the 90-day truce was proposed by Massad Boulos, the US senior adviser for Arab and African affairs. Washington wants both sides to accept a humanitarian truce and commit to an inclusive political dialogue leading to a civilian government, according to the State Department.
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Al-Burhan is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Thursday. It remains unclear whether he will attend; diplomatic sources in Khartoum told the Sudan Tribune they still expected the visa to be issued, the Washington Examiner reported.
Sudanese authorities did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the visa refusal. However, Sudan’s ambassador to the UN wrote to Secretary-General António Guterres, urging the UN to intervene.
Reuters described the dispute as the lowest point in relations between Washington and Sudan’s army since the war began. Relations had already been strained by a US proposal to extend the arms embargo on Darfur to the whole country, a move al-Burhan’s backers say would disproportionately punish the army, according to Reuters.
In an article published by the American magazine Foreign Policy on Monday, al-Burhan argued that ceasefire efforts led by outside parties had failed to end the war and that peace dictated from outside would not last.
Stripped legitimacy, a new blow to Al-Burhan
As reports of the withheld visa emerged, the US Department of State issued a statement on Tuesday declaring that neither of Sudan’s warring parties holds legitimate authority.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said that neither the Sudanese Armed Forces, the Rapid Support Forces nor their respective leaders “represent legitimate, constitutional governance for Sudan.”
He added that the United States was ready to work with anyone who is a serious partner for peace in Sudan, and that Washington would “seek to raise the cost of continued conflict on all belligerents” and the networks fuelling the war.
Former Sudanese civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok is in New York this week to attend General Assembly events alongside members of his anti-war coalition, Reuters reported.
The conflict has displaced nearly 14 million people: 9.3 million inside Sudan and 4.4 million who have fled to neighbouring countries, according to UN figures from October 2025.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 33.7 million people require humanitarian assistance in 2026.
