South Sudan Sees No Peace Agreement Before Aug. 17 Deadline

South Sudan’s warring factions haven’t made progress on a peace deal and it seems likely that no breakthrough will be reached by an Aug. 17 deadline, Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth said.

“None of the outstanding issues that were left pending in other negotiations have been agreed upon,” he said by phone from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, where the on-off negotiations resumed last week.

International pressure is increasing on South Sudan to find a solution to a conflict that broke out in December 2013 between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and fighters allied with former Vice President Riek Machar. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people and driven more than 2 million others from their homes. Multiple cease-fire agreements have been broken and rounds of peace talks have faltered.

“I doubt reaching an agreement by the 17th, but the final decision is not with us but with the principals,” said Lueth, referring to Kiir and Machar. “When they come, they will have to resolve that, whether to sign or not to sign.”

South Sudan has sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest oil reserves after Nigeria and Angola, according to BP Plc data. Violence has slashed crude output by at least a third to about 165,000 barrels per day, the Petroleum Ministry said in May.

The U.S. is considering new sanctions, possibly an arms embargo and blocks on individuals’ assets and ability to travel, through the United Nations or European Union if the deadline for the peace deal isn’t met. On a visit to Ethiopia last month, President Barack Obama met regional leaders to build support to end the crisis in South Sudan.

The main sticking points in the talks include the structure of governance, changes to the security apparatus, judiciary, economic management and the public service, and the division of power sharing, Lueth said.