Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni arrived in South Sudan on Thursday in the highest-level visit since political tensions escalated.
His visit comes amid growing fears of renewed conflict following clashes and the house arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar.
South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir welcomed Museveni at the Juba airport.
Kiir’s administration has accused Machar of inciting rebellion, sparking concerns of a return to the devastating 2013-2018 civil war.
Museveni, whose military forces were invited to South Sudan last month to help secure the capital, avoided direct references to the crisis in his public remarks. Instead, he emphasized strengthening bilateral relations and regional cooperation.
His visit follows mediation efforts by the African Union and an East African regional body, both seeking to de-escalate the growing tensions.
The ongoing standoff between Kiir and Machar has alarmed the United Nations, which warns that South Sudan could spiral into all-out ethnic conflict.
Uganda, which supported Kiir’s forces during the civil war, recently deployed troops amid violent clashes between South Sudan’s military and the ethnic Nuer militia in Upper Nile state.