STORY: Fewer than 5,000 people have requested additional information from the State Department, and only a fraction of those are Americans who have actively sought Washington's assistance to leave the country. The Pentagon later said only a relatively small number of Americans are seeking to leave Sudan at the moment and international flights are still departing the country.

Patel also addressed the issue of an American reporter imprisoned in Russia. The United States is "deeply disappointed" by Russia's rejection of a U.S. embassy request to visit detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in prison, Patel told reporters.

Russia said on Thursday it had rejected the request in response to Washington's refusal to grant visas to a group of Russian journalists.

Gershkovich was arrested last month and accused of espionage, a charge he has denied. The United States has designated him as wrongfully detained.