JUBA, March 1 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan on Thursday cautioned the international community that unsolicited pressure and issuance of deadlines will not help push through a final peace deal.
Michael Makuei, the minister of information, said Juba is ready to resume peace revitalization talks with the armed opposition in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, but any sustained pressure or threats from the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and Western countries such as Britain and the United States cannot result in an agreement.
"In negotiations you don't say this is the last round... if you don't bring peace we will apply Plan B (sanctions) on you," Makuei said "We cannot just be threatened. We are a country, a sovereign state, and nobody has the right to threaten South Sudan."
The current arms embargo imposed by the United States and describing the upcoming talks as the last opportunity for the warring parties to make peace are threats that do not help, he said.
"It is us who know our problem. We understand our problem better than others, even though there are people who claim over there that they are more concerned about the lives and livelihoods of the people of South Sudan," he said.
"There is no way someone will come to me from Troika and tell me that I understand your problem better than me," Makuei said, referring to Britain, the U.S., and Norway.
By declaring South Sudan President Salva Kiir an unfit partner, the Donald Trump administration showed bias, he said.
The third round of the High-Level Revitalization Forum is expected to start in mid-March.
Such thorny issue as the transitional security arrangement and permanent ceasefire are expected to be top on the agenda.
In January, U.S. ambassador to UN Nikki Haley described the South Sudan leader an unfit partner at the UN Security Council, accusing him of failing to enforce effective Cessation of Hostilities (CoH) agreed with the opposition groups and allow humanitarian access.
Mediators from the regional body, IGAD, prefer power sharing in the states, especially in the restive Upper Nile region, to be government 46 percent, armed opposition 40 percent and 2 percent for former political detainees.
Makuei, for his part, said the government aims to give 20 to 30 percent to the armed groups.
South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013, after political disputes between President Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar led to fighting, mostly between Dinka ethnic soldiers loyal to Kiir and Machar's Nuer ethnic group.
A 2015 peace agreement broke down in July 2016 when the rival factions resumed fighting in the capital, forcing Machar to flee into exile.
The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions of others to seek refuge in neighboring countries.
