Remarks to the press by Undersecretary-General Lacroix following a meeting with Foreign Minister Deng Alor at the Foreign Ministry in Juba.
I had a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Deng Alor.He explained to me the evolution of the initiatives that are currently underway to advance peace in South Sudan, the importance of the IGAD initiative regarding the revitalization of the implementation of the peace agreement and the efforts that are being conducted by neighboring countries, such as Uganda, to bring stakeholders closer together.We agreed that all these actions and initiatives were important and had to converge into a positive dynamic that would bring about and accelerate the implementation of the peace agreement and bring sustainable peace in this country.I also underlined that these processes could not move forward with a chance of success if the fighting were to continue so I advocated that it was also extremely important for this peace process to have better chances of success but also for the humanitarian situation of the population to improve, it is very important that fighting should end.We also had discussions on Abyei. I recalled the resolution of the United Nations Security Council, the impatience expressed by the Security Council that there should be progress in the implementation of the understanding, the agreement between Sudan and South Sudan. In this regard, we agreed that the next high-level meeting - particular the meeting that is, I understand, going to take place shortly between President Kiir and President Bashir of Sudan - will be very important.