The South Sudanese project that has been spearheaded by, among others, President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga has hit a deadlock after a tense meeting held in Addis Ababa on Thursday evening.

Odinga has in the past weeks engaged in a diplomatic charm offensive meant to broker peace between the rival South Sudanese factions lead by President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar.

The former Prime Minister, working under the auspices of IGAD, traveled to South Africa and to Juba where he met Machar and Kiir respectively.

The meetings were successful as they managed to set up a peace meeting held at Addis Ababa on Thursday evening - under the leadership of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The Thursday meeting was attended by President Kenyatta but was surrounded by awkward moments as the IGAD leaders pressured the South Sudanese leaders to end conflict in their country.

Aljazeera reported of an awkward moment when the two rivals being were coaxed by Ahmed into an awkward hug.

President Kenyatta, who had arrived in Ethiopia at 4pm, left Addis Ababa at 9pm - optimistic that the peace project would work out.

“My earnest call to the people of South Sudan represented by their leaders is to truly own the peace process and genuinely work towards narrowing down the differences," Kenyatta stated.

Hours after he returned to Kenya, cracks have already emerged after the rebel group warned that it would not be coerced into a peace deal that was "unrealistic".

"For any meaningful dialogue to take place, it should be within the context of a comprehensive political settlement," Machar's group stated.