S/PV.9860 Security Council

The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2025/93, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United States of America. The Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

The draft resolution received 13 votes in favour, none against and two abstentions. The draft resolution has been adopted as resolution 2772 (2025). I shall now give the floor to those members of the Council who wish to make statements after the voting.

The United States welcomes the adoption of the resolution (resolution 2772 (2025)) and the renewal of the mandate of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan. We are confident the Panel’s independent reporting will facilitate Member State support for the Sudan and efforts to reach a lasting resolution to a conflict that has caused the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. The Panel’s reporting provides unique information crucial to stemming the flow of arms and funds, stopping the fighting and supporting a civilian-led political alternative to the Sudanese Armed Forces or the Rapid Support Forces. United States support remains steadfast for the Sudanese people and their demands for a durable end to the conflict and a political transition to democratic governance.

I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the three African members of the Security Council plus (A3+), namely, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia and my own country, Guyana. The A3+ acknowledges the efforts of the United States, as the penholder, in facilitating the negotiation process. We negotiated in good faith by laying bare our concerns and constructively engaging with all Council members throughout the negotiations. While we recognize the collective effort to agree on a concise version of the resolution (resolution 2772 (2025)), we regret that the A3+ proposal to align the extension of the mandate of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan with the sanctions measures imposed on Darfur, Sudan, was not considered. This misalignment, unique to the sanctions regime in Darfur, must be addressed by the Council. We remain gravely concerned about the deteriorating situation in the Sudan, in particular the escalating violence against civilians. The increasing flow of weapons, foreign interference in the conflict and the recruitment of children continue to exacerbate the crisis. These developments reinforce the need for sustained monitoring and reporting by the Panel of Experts to keep the Council informed and engaged. In this regard, the A3+ underscores the following. First, the A3+ reiterates, as highlighted by many Council members, that aligning the cycle for both the mandate of the Panel of Experts and the 1591 sanctions regime is a matter that must be addressed. This inconsistency has persisted for too long and should be corrected to ensure coordinated action and facilitate smoother transitions in future engagements on this file. We anticipate a thorough discussion on this matter when the renewal of the sanctions regime is reviewed in September. Secondly, as a matter of principle, the A3+ notes that sanctions form part of the toolkit of the Security Council to address conflict situations. However, sanctions are not necessarily the sole strategic means for achieving peace and security in conflict settings. Conflict resolution requires a range of tools, and sanction measures alone have not been universally effective in restoring international peace and security. There must be a clear and defined pathway for the eventual lifting of sanctions, with periodic evaluations to ensure they serve their intended purpose without causing unintended consequences. We stress the importance of a principled approach that supports a resolution to the crisis while ensuring that measures imposed by the Council remain balanced and constructive. Thirdly, the A3+ calls upon foreign actors supplying arms to the parties to the conflict to desist and rather use their influence on the parties to agree to a ceasefire and pursue the path of political dialogue to resolve the conflict in the Sudan. To conclude, the A3+ remains committed to engaging constructively with all members of the Security Council in the collective pursuit of peace, stability and accountability in the Sudan. Dame Barbara Woodward (United Kingdom): We voted in favour of this resolution (resolution 2772 (2025)) renewing the mandate of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1591 (2005), and we thank the United States for leading the negotiations. I will make two points. First, I want to highlight the catastrophic situation currently faced by thousands of displaced people at Zamzam camp in Darfur. We have seen reports that the Rapid Support Forces have launched a further assault, contrary to the Security Council’s demands in resolution 2736 (2024). There are harrowing accounts of shelling and targeting of civilians. It is reported that at least 40 civilians have been killed, and shelters have been razed to the ground. These are people who were already facing devastating levels of humanitarian need, including famine. So we condemn these attacks. We underscore the need for the protection of civilians in line with international law and the commitments made by the warring parties in the 2023 Jeddah Declaration. The situation underscores the continued importance of the Panel’s reporting to support the Council’s work on the Sudan. And once again, we call on all Member States to refrain from external interference, which foments conflict and instability, and instead to support mediation efforts for a durable peace. Secondly, we note that while the United Kingdom welcomes the renewal of the Panel’s mandate for a further 12 months, we would have preferred to maintain It is vital that the Council remain focused on protecting civilians in the Sudan, given the violence being committed against so many. The United Kingdom will continue to press for a much more urgent and more effective international response to the crisis, including a reinvigorated mediation process.

Pakistan voted in favour of the resolution (resolution 2772 (2025)). We believe that the Panel of Experts on the Sudan is carrying out important work in the fulfilment of its mandate on reporting on the ongoing conflict, including its various dynamics and regional impact, the financing and recruitment patterns, the humanitarian impact and violations of international humanitarian law, and the proliferation of weapons and violations of the arms embargo. However, we regret that, yet again, another opportunity was missed to align the reporting period of the Panel of Experts with that of the sanctions regime in Darfur. All sanctions regimes must be periodically reviewed to assess their effectiveness and determine their continued utility. The task of the Panel of Experts is to monitor the implementation of the sanctions regime. By extending the reporting period of the Panel beyond that of the sanctions regime, the resolution prejudges the extension of the latter. Other sanctions regimes of the Council do not have such an anomaly. It was thus only reasonable to rectify it. We regret the inflexibility regarding accommodating a six-month extension of the Panel’s mandate with an automatic extension of 12 months conditioned upon extension of the sanctions regime in September 2025. Such an arrangement would have taken into account the concerns expressed during the informal consultations on the draft resolution. Lastly, we find it regrettable that the resolution was put into blue without accommodating the views of all Member States.

The Russian Federation abstained during the vote on the United States-drafted resolution (resolution 2772 (2025)) and the extension of the mandate of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1591 (2005) on Darfur, Sudan. We are not the only party that had comments and remarks vis-à-vis the work done by the Panel of Experts over the most recent mandated reporting cycle. We trust that the Panel  — the composition of which will be renewed in the near future — when drafting material, will revert back to its inherent high-quality standards and will adhere to the criteria of objectivity, credibility and verifiability of the information provided. As a matter of principle, it is important for their activity to be strictly in accordance with the mandate for there to be impartiality rather than the mandate being used as a battering ram against the interests of the Sudanese people and its Government. Along the same lines, we view as unacceptable even hints at the extension of the sanctions regime beyond Darfur. In the two decades since the introduction of the limitations, they have not benefited the Sudanese in any way. Our position on the resolution remains unchanged since last year. We are heartened by the fact that the authors partially accommodated the views of a number of delegations. They agreed to delete from the resolution language not directly related to the activities of the Panel of Experts. At the same time, we believe that our United States colleagues did not fully leverage opportunities for dialogue with the Sudanese, and they could have been more amenable to the views of the three African members. By rejecting this kind Lastly, as was the case last year, we view as unacceptable the extension of the Panel of Experts’ mandate and instructions for them to draft reports beyond the timeline of the sanctions regime itself, which is set to expire in September.

I will now make a statement in my capacity as the representative of China. China abstained in the voting on the resolution that was just put to the vote (resolution 2772 (2025)). I would like to state China’s position related to this vote. The Panel of Experts on the Sudan is an integral part of the sanctions mechanism authorized by the Security Council, with a mandate to assist in monitoring the implementation of sanctions measures and to make recommendations to the Council on sanctions. The kind of sanctions in place would require a similar panel of experts. Therefore the mandate of the Panel being aligned with the cycle of sanctions is both a logical arrangement and a common practice for the Council’s 14 existing sanctions regimes. The only exception is the sanctions regime on Darfur, Sudan, which is the subject of today’s vote. The current sanctions on Darfur are due to expire in September, and today’s resolution extends the Panel’s mandate beyond September, until March 2026. This is clearly against common sense. It smacks, first of all, of prejudging the inevitable extension of sanctions come September. Additionally, should the Council adjust the sanctions measures in due time, it will have new requirements for the Panel’s composition and its professional background, which may in turn make it challenging for the current Panel to carry out its newly authorized mandate. The misalignment in the cycle of the two mandates has been there for a relatively long time, and China and many other members have been calling for it to be resolved. The solution is quite simple. We only need to extend the panel’s mandate for six months once, and then we would achieve cycle alignment once and for all. If some country claims that the Panel’s mandate cannot be extended for less than a year, then we only need to extend the sanctions regime for six months once. That would also resolve the problem. This unique anomaly has been left unresolved for some time, not because of the complexity of the issue but fundamentally because of a lack of political will. The penholder is unwilling to make efforts and seek the broadest possible consensus or to improve the Council’s working mechanisms and methods from a technical point of view. During the next phase of the Council’s work on Sudan sanctions, this anomaly must be addressed and resolved. We urge the penholder to take up its responsibility on this matter. The conflict in the Sudan has dragged on for nearly two years now, resulting in devastating humanitarian consequences. China has taken note of the recent discussions on the Sudan at the African Union summit. We call on all parties to the conflict to cease fighting as soon as possible, support the United Nations in synergizing its good offices with the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development and others to bring the parties back to the track of political dialogue and call on the international community to increase its assistance and help the Sudan restore peace at an early date. I resume my functions as President of the Council. There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers.