(VOVworld) – US President Barack Obama discussed the South Sudan crisis with African leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, which could conclude in sanctions or other penalties if South Sudan’s warring parties don’t forge a peace deal by mid-August.

US President Barack Obama listens to his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta, during a joint press conference (Photo: AFP)

Although Obama and leaders from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan, and the African Union agreed that the situation in South Sudan is alarming, they didn’t reach any agreement on how to respond if a peace deal is not concluded. A US official said Washington is considering adding more economic sanctions and an arms embargo on South Sudan, which have already been imposed by the US and the EU.