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Sudan’s government accepted conditionally on Tuesday an invitation to attend the Washington-mediated peace negotiations in Geneva in mid-August.

The government renewed readiness to engage in any negotiations, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that the government is keen to “preserve the blood of the Sudanese” and would cooperate with any party seeking to do so.

Still, any negotiations before implementing the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, which stipulates comprehensive withdrawal and halt to expansion, would “not be acceptable to the Sudanese people,” the ministry added.

Sudan has been engulfed in a deadly conflict between the government-aligned army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, resulting in the loss of at least 16,650 lives, according to UN data.

Meanwhile, an estimated 10.7 million people are now internally displaced in Sudan, with approximately 2.2 million others seeking refuge in neighboring countries, UN data showed.

Since May 6, 2023, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been patronizing negotiations between the Sudanese warring parties in Jeddah. Several truces have been reached and breached since then, including the Jeddah Declaration signed on May 11, 2023, with the two sides accusing each other of violating them.

The RSF accepted the invitation to attend the upcoming Geneva peace negotiations on July 23.