The United States has launched a bid at the Security Council to impose targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on South Sudan.

The US-drafted text seen by AFP calls for a 1-year ban on all sales of arms, weapons, ammunition, military vehicles and equipment.

This comes days after the United Nations warned that the conflict-affected country could descend into systematic killing of people on the basis of ethnicity.

The recent report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that South Sudan faces a “very real risk of mass atrocities” and that 14,000 peacekeepers deployed in the country would not be able to stop such an indiscriminate slaughter.

On Thursday, US Ambassador Samantha Power said the draft resolution will soon be presented to the Security Council to ban weapons sales to Juba and impose sanctions.

“South Sudan is a nation at the precipice,” Power told the council.

“In the coming days, the United States will put forward a proposal to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan and targeted sanctions on the individuals who have been the biggest spoilers to achieve lasting peace,” she said.

Amb Power said months of talks with South Sudan’s leaders had failed to persuade them to opt for peace as she made the case for a travel ban and an assets freeze on those behind the violence.

“There is no good reason why we would not deprive those who have shown a willingness to commit mass atrocities of the means of doing it more efficiently,” she added.

However, South Sudan’s Ambassador Joseph Moum Malok rejected the proposed embargo, describing it as a “totally unacceptable” violation of the country’s sovereignty.

Meanwhile, Russia, which has veto power, opposes putting arms embargo on South Sudan.

Petr Iliichev, the Russia’s deputy permanent representative, said on Thursday that an arms embargo would not help and described any sanctions as “the height of irresponsibility.”