President Salva Kiir and PM Dr Abiy Ahmed during a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Credit | Fana Television

The Office of the President has refuted media reports that Salva Kiir met with the Ethiopian Prime Minister to urge him to block proposed sanctions by the United States.

Kiir headed a delegation to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, yesterday for a one-day visit to discuss the government’s position on the recent IGAD proposal.

The visit came ahead of the extra-ordinary meeting of the IGAD Council of Ministers and the discussion of the US draft sanction proposal by the UN Security Council.

Presidential Spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny says Kiir’s visit and the two events were a coincident.

“When there is a visit of another country leadership to another country, it is done on the basis of the host country agreeing on the date that the visit is supposed to take place. So the Ethiopia scheduled the visit of President Salva Kiir,” Ateny told Eye Radio.

“And therefore, whenever other things or events that are actually happening at the same with time the visit of the president or prior to the visit of the president, this will be a coincidence and they are not connected.”

The President return to Juba the same day.