Washington DC - Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the new year offered a chance for a humanitarian truce in war-ravaged Sudan as he urged outside countries to exert leverage.

"99% of our focus is this humanitarian truce and achieving that as soon as possible," Rubio told a news conference.

"And we think that the new year and the upcoming holidays are a great opportunity for both sides to agree to that, and we're really pushing very hard on that regard," he said.

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Sudan has been devastated since the army and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces went to war in April 2023, with tens of thousands of people killed, millions displaced, and widespread abuses and hunger.

Rubio said both sides have violated commitments as he voiced alarm at new reports of humanitarian convoys being struck.

"What's happening there is horrifying. It's atrocious," he said.

"One day, the story of what's actually happened there is going to be known, and everyone involved is going to look bad."

The United Arab Emirates has come under fire for its role, with Amnesty International saying it facilitated the RSF as the group committed war crimes, including mass executions and sexual violence, in El-Fasher, a flashpoint city seized in late October.

Rubio, who has repeatedly spoken to UAE officials about Sudan, declined to criticize countries by name but noted that Sudan's warring parties relied on outside weapons.

"Someone is allowing it to be shipped in, and someone is actually shipping it. So we've had the right and appropriate conversations with all sides of this conflict," he said.

"We're hopeful that we can make some progress on this, but we know that in order to make progress on this, it will require outside actors to use their leverage," Rubio said.