The UN Security Council is expected to vote today on a US-drafted resolution to impose an arms embargo and sanctions on South Sudan.
However, it remained unclear whether the 15-member council will adopt the resolution, with diplomats saying that it fell short of the nine votes needed for adoption in the council.
The United States said that cutting off the arms flow was urgently needed following UN warnings that the world’s youngest nation faced the risk of mass atrocities.
Russia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Venezuela and more importantly Angola, Egypt and Senegal have all expressed serious reservations about the American resolution.
Japan has argued that imposing an arms embargo would antagonize President Salva Kiir’s government and put peacekeepers’ lives at risk, while Britain and France support the move.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is backing the US call to ban arms deals with South Sudan, saying the move would reduce the capacity of all sides to wage war.