Saudi Arabia and the United States have called on Sudan’s warring parties to commit to and “effectively implement” a fresh cease-fire agreement, as violent clashes in the northern African nation showed no signs of abating.

For weeks, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been mediating between the warring parties, after clashes broke out in mid-April between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.

Washington and Riyad stated in a joint statement on Sunday that they were engaging the Sudanese military and RSF representatives who remained in Jeddah.

They urged Sudan’s warring parties to reach and enforce a new cease-fire agreement after the previous one expired late Saturday. The goal, they added, is to eventually achieve a permanent cease of hostilities in the war-torn country.

Talks were earlier abandoned when the Sudanese military announced on Wednesday that it would no longer participate in the cease-fire negotiations with the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The decision also forced Saudi and US to end talks “as a result of repeated serious violations of the short-term cease-fire.”

In response, the US government slapped sanctions against key Sudanese defense companies run by the military and the RSF and people who “perpetuate violence” in Sudan.

The conflict has turned Khartoum and other urban areas into battlegrounds, resulting in widespread theft and devastation of residential areas throughout the country.

More than 1.65 million people have been displaced as a result of the violence, with many fleeing to safer locations of Sudan and neighboring countries.