US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday he would pause and reassess what might be possible after failing to meet his April 29 goal for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, saying both sides still wanted to try to negotiate.
"Both parties still indicate that they feel it's important to negotiate and want to find a way to negotiate," Kerry said, during a trip to Ethiopia.
"So we believe the best thing to do right now is pause, take a hard look at these things and find out what is possible and what is not possible in the days ahead."
On another note, US Secretary of State John Kerry called it "absolutely critical" that African troops confront the deadly conflicts across the continent, including South Sudan.
He told a gathering of African Union commissioners in the Ethiopian capital that the US would work with the United Nations to support a peacekeeping force, or "a peacemaking force, in some cases."
Foreign ministers from Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda said they agreed that aggressive steps are needed. But they offered no details, and have for months been undecided on how best to respond to massacres and other horrific killings in the world's newest nation.
"There are too many nations that risk falling into broad-based violence or remain embroiled in too much bloodshed," Kerry told the AU commissioners.
US officials have estimated at least 5,000 troops are necessary for the increasingly bloody mission in South Sudan, where fighting broke out last December after President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, accused former Vice President Riek Machar, a Nuer, of staging a coup.
But officials said African nations have been divided on deploying troops, including some that are reluctant to be part of a UN mission.
Uganda already has troops inside South Sudan in support of the Juba government, but that has raised regional concerns since both sides of the conflict are accused of killing civilians.
The US has said it wants Uganda to withdraw from South Sudan. Kerry is expected to briefly visit South Sudan during his trip to Africa, which ends May 5.
REUTERS/AP