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The two sides clashed in the capital Khartoum, although a fragile ceasefire was extended for another three days.
Volker Perthes told The Associated Press that if the talks are agreed, they will initially focus on establishing a “stable and reliable” ceasefire. He warned, however, that holding talks would be challenging.
A string of temporary truces over the past week has only eased fighting in some areas, while intense fighting continues elsewhere, driving civilians from their homes and pushing Sudan further into disaster.
Humanitarian groups have been working to restore aid to the country, where nearly a third of the 46 million people were dependent on international aid before the violence erupted.
The UN food agency said on Monday it was ending a suspension of operations in Sudan after three members of its team were killed in the war-torn region of Darfur early in the fighting.
WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said the WFP would resume operations in four provinces – Kadarif, Gezira, Kassala and White Nile – where security permits.
She said the number of people needing help would “increase significantly as the fighting continues”. “In order to best protect our essential humanitarian workers and the people of Sudan, the fighting must stop.”
A day earlier, the ICRC had airlifted a plane full of medical supplies, bringing some relief to hospitals overwhelmed by the chaos.
Significant progress would be made if there were direct dialogue since fighting broke out between the army and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on April 15.
For most of the conflict, Army chief General Abdul Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander General Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo seemed determined to fight it out.
Their power struggle has brought millions of Sudanese to the brink of gun battles, shelling and airstrikes.
Thousands of people fled Khartoum and other cities, more than two-thirds of hospitals in active fighting areas were out of service and fighters looted dwindling supplies.
At least 436 civilians have been killed and more than 1,200 wounded since the fighting began, according to figures released Monday by the Syndicate of Doctors, which tracks civilian casualties. As of a week ago, Sudan’s health ministry counted at least 530 people killed, including civilians and combatants, and another 4,500 wounded, though those figures have not been updated since.
The United States has been evacuating American civilians from Sudan every day since Saturday. A third U.S.-assisted evacuation convoy of U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents arrived in Port Sudan on Sudan’s Red Sea coast on Monday.
The U.S. has a “small number” of consular officers in Sudanese ports to help U.S. civilians board ferries or Saudi or U.S. Navy ships and safely cross the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia.
The State Department said on Monday it had helped about 700 people — U.S. citizens or permanent residents, or local staff of now-closed U.S. embassies — get off the bus convoy. It says it has helped about 1,000 more Americans leave Sudan.
Explosions and gunfire erupted in parts of Khartoum and its neighboring city of Omdurman on Monday, hours after both sides pledged to extend the ceasefire for 72 hours, residents said.
Atiya Abdalla Atiya, secretary of the Doctors Association, said fighting broke out in different parts of Khartoum early Monday, including the military headquarters, the Republican Palace and the international airport. There were also clashes in the upscale neighborhood of Kafouri, he said.
Many Khartoum hospitals remained unusable or inaccessible because of the fighting, while others were occupied by warring parties, especially the Rapid Support Forces, he said.
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have led a push by the international community to get the generals to stop fighting and then engage in deeper talks to resolve the crisis.
Speaking in Port Sudan, Pertes said daunting challenges remained to get both sides to comply with the terms of a real cessation of fighting. One possibility is to create a monitoring mechanism that includes Sudanese and foreign observers, “but this has to be negotiated,” he said.
Negotiations on an ongoing ceasefire could take place in Saudi Arabia or South Sudan, he said, adding that the former might be logistically easier — though both sides would need safe passage through each other’s territory. “With a lack of trust, it’s very difficult,” he said.
RSF commander Dagalo said the paramilitary group had appointed its representatives to the talks, but confidence-building measures must first be taken. “A reconciliation should come after other things: first, a ceasefire and confidence building,” he told Saudi Arabian television station Asharq.
People have poured out of Khartoum and other war-torn urban areas over the past week, moving in droves to wherever they can find safety.
In Port Sudan, thousands of people camped out, hoping to board evacuation ferries. Many families, including young children, have been camping out for days, including hundreds of Syrians and Yemenis who have so far been unable to board the boat.
“Most people are sitting on their bags,” said Mohamed Amr Mustafa, a Syrian.
Mustafa Amr Abarou, spokesman for the Sudan Refugee Agency, said more than 70,000 South Sudanese refugees who had been living in Khartoum had fled to the neighboring White Nile province, in an area already overcrowded. settled in a refugee camp. He said at least 10 truckloads of people fleeing Khartoum a day continued to arrive, straining the agency’s capacity.
Sudan hosts more than 1.3 million refugees, including 800,000 from South Sudan, according to United Nations figures.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, warned on Monday that many more had fled Sudan. “If the violence doesn’t stop, we will see more people being forced to flee Sudan for safety,” he tweeted.
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