US envoy pushes for Sudan-wide arms embargo as war enters fourth year
Massad Boulos wants the UN's Darfur arms embargo extended to cover all of Sudan and drone shipments, but Russia has signaled it will resist the move at the Security Council.
By Eyob Hadgu · 25 August 2026
The UN Security Council chamber in New York, where a vote on expanding Sudan's arms embargo would need to pass. Photo: Jdforrester (James D. Forrester) / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
The United States' senior Africa envoy has asked the UN Security Council to extend an existing arms embargo from Sudan's Darfur region to cover the entire country, as drone attacks between the warring army and paramilitary forces escalate.
Massad Boulos told the Security Council that outside financial and military support was fuelling the conflict and risked drawing neighbouring states deeper into the war. He proposed widening the two-decade-old Darfur embargo to the whole of Sudan, explicitly covering drones and related technology, and adding more monitoring experts to track violations.
"The brutality of the war waged by the Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese Armed Forces has discredited their claims," Boulos said, according to a report carried by AllAfrica.
Fighting now nationwide
Sudan's civil war, between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), is now in its fourth year. Fighting has increasingly been marked by drone strikes from both sides, with combat continuing in areas less affected by the rainy season. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and roughly 14 million have been displaced since the war began, according to UN figures.
The current Darfur arms embargo is due to expire on 12 September 2026. Widening it to the whole country would require a Security Council resolution — meaning all five permanent members, including Russia and China, would need to either vote in favour or abstain.
A wider arms embargo would require a UN Security Council vote — and Russia and China oppose the move.
Russia, which holds a Security Council veto, has voiced skepticism about changing the existing arrangement, arguing that a broader embargo could undermine the Sudanese army's ability to operate. Sudan's own UN envoy, Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed, has called instead for a straightforward technical extension of the current Darfur-only embargo rather than an expansion.
UN Under-Secretary-General Rosemary Di Carlo and UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher have both briefed the Council on the deteriorating situation in Sudan in recent sessions.
Whether the Security Council takes up Boulos's broader proposal — or simply renews the narrower Darfur embargo before the 12 September deadline — will depend on negotiations among the permanent members in the coming weeks.
This report draws on reporting from BBC News and AllAfrica.
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