Sudan ceasefire extended as remaining Britons told to head to airfield ‘quickly’ by foreign secretary
A ceasefire in Sudan has been extended for three more days despite continuing reports of heavy fighting in the capital Khartoum and the western region of Darfur.
The truce between Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and military had been due to expire at midnight, but the US and Saudi Arabia brokered a new deal.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has urged Britons in Sudan to “proceed to the airport as quickly as possible to ensure their safety”.
The British evacuation mission has rescued at least 897 people, as the White House said it was concerned by ceasefire violations and warned the situation “could worsen at any moment”.
Eight British flights had left Sudan as of 4pm on Thursday, with the Foreign Office promising “further flights to come”.
Mr Cleverly warned Britons stranded in Sudan that it could be “impossible” to evacuate them when the ceasefire expired – as he urged people to head to the airfield north of Khartoum as soon as possible.
British nationals on board an RAF aircraft in Khartoum being evacuated to Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus
More than 2,000 British nationals in Sudan have registered under the evacuation plans, out of around 4,000 British passport holders that are thought to be in the country, with British military chiefs saying they have the capacity to evacuate at least 500 people per day out of Wadi Saeedna airfield.
“We cannot predict exactly what will happen when that ceasefire ends, but what we do know is it will be much, much harder, potentially impossible,” Mr Cleverly told Sky News.
“So, what we’re saying to British nationals is if you’re hesitant, if you’re weighing up your options, our strong, strong advice is to go through Wadi Saeedna whilst the ceasefire is up and running.
“There are planes, there is capacity, we will lift you out. I’m not able to make those same assurances once a ceasefire has ended.”
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Sky’s Africa correspondent Yousra Elbagir reunited with her uncle, who had boarded a ship in Port Sudan to escape Khartoum
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The government is also working on a sea evacuation route from Port Sudan and the HMS Lancaster has been dispatched. Other countries have been using the city to get people out.
The previous ceasefire had not completely stopped fighting, but had calmed enough to allow tens of thousands of Sudanese people to flee to safer areas.
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Sudan rescues may soon be ‘impossible’
The fighting has pushed Sudan’s population to near breaking point, with food becoming scarce, electricity cut off across much of the capital and other cities, and many hospitals shut down.
Multiple aid agencies have had to suspend operations and the UN refugee agency said it was gearing up for potentially tens of thousands of people fleeing to neighbouring countries.
Gunmen stormed through Genena, also known as Al Junaynah, in Darfur, looting shops and homes, while fighting still continued in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, albeit at calmer levels.
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Sudan: Ceasefire to be extended
Darfur has remained a pinch point for fighting since conflict broke out two weeks ago.
A market has been destroyed and government offices and aid compounds have been burned down, including premises belonging to the United Nations.
There have also been reports of criminal gangs looting hospitals and destroying equipment – cutting off the city’s access to healthcare.
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Gunmen in RSF uniforms reportedly attacked several neighbourhoods across Genena on Thursday morning, forcing many out of their homes and pushing back the military into its barracks.
Elsewhere, there have been clashes in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, where earlier this month fighters from the RSF allegedly destroyed and looted food aid warehouses.
At least 512 civilians and fighters have been killed so far in the fighting, according to the country’s health ministry, with 4,200 others injured.
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with more sanctions after a series of deadly strikes across Ukraine, as he said of Vladimir Putin: “What the hell happened to him?”
The US president appeared aghast at the conduct of his counterpart in the Kremlin after drone and missile attacks in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities left 12 people dead and dozens more injured.
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Speaking to reporters at an airport in New Jersey ahead of a flight back to Washington, Mr Trump said: “I’m not happy with Putin. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
“He’s killing a lot of people,” he added. “I’m not happy about that.”
Mr Trump – who said he’s “always gotten along with” Mr Putin – told reporters he would consider more sanctions against Moscow.
“He’s sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don’t like it at all,” he said.
Ukraine said the barrage of strikes overnight into Sunday was the biggest aerial attack of the war so far, with 367 drones and missiles fired by Russian forces.
It came despite Mr Trump repeatedly talking up the chances of a peace agreement. He even spoke to Mr Putin on the phone for two hours last week.
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Hundreds of drones fired at Ukraine
‘Shameful’ attacks
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine is ready to sign a ceasefire deal, and suggested Russia isn’t serious about signing one.
In a statement after the latest attacks on his country, he urged the US and other national leaders to increase the pressure on Mr Putin, saying silence “only encourages” him.
Mr Trump’s envoy for the country, Keith Kellogg, later demanded a ceasefire, describing the Russian attacks as “shameful”.
Three children were among those killed in the attacks, explosions shaking the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, and Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian siblings Tamara, 12, Stanislav, eight, and Roman, 17, were killed in Russian airstrikes. Pic: X/@Mariana_Betsa
Before the onslaught, Russia said it had faced a Ukrainian drone attack on Sunday. It said around 100 were intercepted and destroyed near Moscow and in central and southern regions.
The violence has escalated despite Russia and Ukraine completing the exchange of 1,000 prisoners each over the past three days.
Donald Trump says he will delay the imposition of 50% tariffs on goods entering the United States from the European Union until July, as the two sides attempt to negotiate a trade deal.
It comes after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a post on social media site X that she had spoken to Mr Trump and expressed that they needed until 9 July to “reach a good deal”.
The US president had last Friday threatened to bring in the 50% tariffs from 1 June, as European leaders said they were ready to respond with their own measures.
But Mr Trump has now said that date has been put back to 9 July to allow more time for negotiations with the 27-member bloc, with the phone call appearing to smooth over tensions for now at least.
Speaking on Sunday before boarding Air Force One for Washington DC, Mr Trump told reporters that he had spoken to Ms Von der Leyen and she “wants to get down to serious negotiations” and she vowed to “rapidly get together and see if we can work something out”.
The US president, in comments on his Truth Social platform, had reignited fears last Friday of a trade war between the two powers when he said talks were “going nowhere” and the bloc was “very difficult to deal with”.
Mr Trump told the media in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday that Ms Von der Leyen “just called me… and she asked for an extension in the June 1st date. And she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation”.
“We had a very nice call and I agreed to move it. I believe July 9th would be the date. That was the date she requested. She said we will rapidly get together and see if we can work something out,” the US president added.
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Shortly after, he wrote on Truth Social: “I agreed to the extension – July 9, 2025 – It was my privilege to do so.”
On his so-called “liberation day” last month, Mr Trump unleashed tariffs on many of America’s trade partners. But since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.
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Much of his most incendiary rhetoric on trade has been directed at Brussels, though, even going as far as to claim the EU was created to rip the US off.
Responding to his 50% tariff threat, EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic said: “EU-US trade is unmatched and must be guided by mutual respect, not threats.
“We stand ready to defend our interests.”
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