The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, warned that South Sudan is on the brink of civil war.
The Secretary General's statement came following reports of the house arrest of South Sudanese First Vice President Riek Machar in the capital of Juba on Wednesday night.
Guterres said Thursday through his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) calls on all parties in the country to "exercise restraint and uphold the Revitalized Peace Agreement (RPA)."
In the daily briefing, the spokesman said the UN peacekeeping mission is joining other regional and international peace partners in expressing alarm at the detention under house arrest of Machar.
Dujarric said the United Nations warns that the confinement "takes the country yet one step closer to the edge of a collapse into civil war and the dismantling of the 2018 peace agreement."
He warned that the people of South Sudan can ill afford to endure the consequences of the civil war. "It's vital that the leaders of the country put the interest of the people first and foremost," he underscored.
Earlier on Wednesday, UNMISS urged President Salva Kiir and the first vice president to resolve grievances, end the military confrontation, uphold the RPA, and take the country forward together towards a peaceful and democratic future.
The African Union, IGAD, the US, and neighbor states gave so far expressed similar concerns over the escalating tensions in South Sudan.