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STORY: Sudan's warring parties have said they are open to peaceful solutions to end their more than 17-month-old conflict.

:: Omdurman, Sudan

:: File

They said that in response to U.S. President Joe Biden's call for re-engagement in talks.

Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces had shared power after staging a coup.

But in April last year, competition between the two erupted into open warfare.

More than 12,000 people have been killed.

:: File

On Wednesday (September 18), army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said the Sudanese government remains open to all constructive efforts aimed at ending the war.

:: File

Early on Thursday (September 19), RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo followed suit.

He said the RSF confirmed its commitment to ceasefire negotiations and said it believes the path to peace is through dialog.

Both men traded blame, however, for failing to end the conflict.

They have not outlined specific steps towards peace.

:: Cairo, Egypt

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said "progress" in relation to the conflict was being hampered by an assault by the RSF on the North Darfur city of al-Fashir.

"...already resulting in the deaths and displacement of thousands of vulnerable people."

He also said Sudan's army needs to halt indiscriminate bombing.

The violence has created what Blinken described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, and has wrecked Sudan's economy and infrastructure.

A U.N. fact-finding mission said earlier this month that both sides have committed abuses that may amount to war crimes.