South Sudan President Salva Kiir has urged an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the ongoing conflict in neighbouring Sudan, citing the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation caused by nine months of fighting.

President Kiir made the call during a meeting with Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the commander of Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Force, on Saturday after participating in a summit organized by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional grouping of eight member countries.

The South Sudanese leader used the meeting to reiterate his administration’s commitment to supporting the regional-led peace process as the only viable path to achieving a lasting peace and resolving the conflict in Sudan. He also urged the paramilitary group’s leader to embrace peaceful dialogue and work towards a peaceful solution to the underlying causes of the war.

President Kiir also called for the establishment of humanitarian corridors to ensure access to assistance and services for people trapped in remote areas of Sudan due to the conflict.

South Sudan’s Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister, James Pitia Morgan, echoed President Kiir’s commitment to advocating for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Sudan. He used the analogy of a mother and her children to illustrate the impartial role he and his administration are playing in finding a solution within the framework of the regional strategy.

“When your children are fighting at home and you, the parents, are there, what do you do? Do you allow them to kill each other under your watch? No, you step in immediately to stop the fighting and then ask what happened afterwards. That is when you can identify the real issues that caused the fighting and find the right solution,” Morgan explained in a statement broadcast by the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation.

“This is what we are doing in the case of Sudan. Sudan was our motherland, and we do not wish them any ill will because of our historical ties. We have assumed the role of a parent by asking them to stop the war as a priority. Once that is done, we can start talking. Some parties have responded and are cooperating, while others are still communicating with us. We hope they will listen to us and agree to hold a direct face-to-face meeting,” he added.

A communique issued by the IGAD summit held in Uganda on January 18, 2024, also called for a peaceful dialogue as the only viable way to end the conflict. The leaders recommended a meeting between the two main leaders in the conflict to be held within the next two weeks.

Sudan’s military-led government announced on Saturday that it had suspended its membership in the East African bloc. The decision came in response to a recent meeting on the Sudanese crisis, which was held despite Sudan’s decision to suspend engagement with the IGAD in the conflict resolution process.