Sudan’s warring sides were beginning talks Saturday that aim to firm up a shaky cease-fire after three weeks of fierce fighting that has killed hundreds and pushed the African country to the brink of collapse, the United States and Saudi Arabia said.

The negotiations, the first between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, since the fighting broke out on April 15, were taking place in Saudi Arabia's coastal city of Jeddah, on the Red Sea, according to a joint Saudi-American statement.

The talks are part of a diplomatic initiative proposed by the kingdom and the U.S. that aims to stop the fighting, which has turned Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, and other urban areas into battlefields and pushed hundreds of thousands from their homes.

In their joint statement, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. urged both parties to “actively engage in the talks towards a cease-fire and end to the conflict, which will spare the Sudanese people’s suffering.”

The statement did not offer a timeframe for the talks, which come after concerted efforts by Riyadh and other international powers to pressure the warring sides in Sudan to the negotiating table. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan welcomed the rival sides to Jeddah, saying on Twitter that he hopes the talks would restore “security and stability” in Sudan.

Read more on FRANCE 24 English

Read also:
Sudanese army says envoys sent to Saudi Arabia for truce talks
UN pressures Sudan's warring generals to guarantee humanitarian aid access
Fighting in Sudan: Women and children are the most vulnerable as conflict worsens