UN Security Council Renews South Sudan Arms Embargo and Sanctions for 12 Months

The Security Council adopted Resolution 2821 on Friday by nine votes, the minimum required, with six abstentions, renewing South Sudan's arms embargo and targeted individual sanctions through May 31, 2027 123. Russia, China, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, and Somalia abstained; Russia argued the measures hamper implementation of the 2018 peace agreement and undermine preparations for upcoming elections, while China described the resolution as unbalanced and overly focused on pressure 13. The US-drafted resolution makes no substantive changes from the prior year's renewal and extends the Panel of Experts mandate to July 1, 2027 1. Amnesty International reported that Uganda has deployed soldiers and military equipment inside South Sudan since March 2025 without notifying the Sanctions Committee, calling it a flagrant embargo violation, and separately documented continued SSPDF attack helicopter operations it attributed to ongoing spare-parts imports in breach of the embargo 4.