The United Nations Security Council is considering lifting sanctions on Eritrea next week after a rapprochement with neighboring Ethiopia, although some members want to maintain some diplomatic pressure to secure a solution to a dispute with Djibouti.
A draft resolution prepared by Britain and seen by Reuters suggests an immediate end to sanctions on Eritrea, including arms embargoes, travel and assets freeze.
But diplomats who asked not to be named said France and some other member states were keen to keep some diplomatic pressure on Eritrea. Members of the Council could propose changes to the draft resolution during the negotiations this week.
The adoption of the resolution requires nine votes and no objection from any of the permanent members - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.
When asked by Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Ma Zhaoxu whether Beijing supports the lifting of sanctions, he said: "We are in consultations."
Ethiopia and Eritrea announced in July the end of their state of war and agreed to open embassies, develop ports and resume flights between the two countries after decades of hostility.
The Security Council welcomed the developments in a statement issued at the time but did not reach a pledge to review the sanctions after the United States, China, Britain, France and Ivory Coast raised concerns about linking rapprochement between the two countries by reviewing sanctions.
In September Eritrea and Djibouti agreed to work on reconciliation. Bloody clashes erupted between the two Horn of Africa states in June 2008 after Djibouti accused Asmara of moving troops across the border.
The Security Council issued a resolution in November 2017 in which it said that any peaceful settlement of the border dispute would be a factor in any review of sanctions against Eritrea. Both the United States and China have military bases in Djibouti.
