Russia says it will veto any move by the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan, despite UN chief Ban Ki-moon reporting that the government had done little to allow more peacekeepers to be deployed to the country, Reuters news agency reports.
It quoted Russia’s Deputy UN Ambassador Petr Iliichev as saying:
Our opposition (to an arms embargo) doesn’t change. Yesterday we were discussing Central African Republic, where an arms embargo is in place but the country is just inundated with weapons.”
In a letter to the council, Mr Ban said South Sudan’s government had agreed to the deployment of 4,000 troops to bolster the current 12,000-strong force but “these commitments have not yet translated into concrete actions on the ground,” AFP news agency reports.
The 15-member council raised the possibility of an arms embargo in August after heavy fighting broke out between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar.
