NEW YORK (AFP) - The United Nations Security Council failed on Friday (May 27) to agree on a statement aimed at pushing Myanmar's junta to take steps towards a peaceful solution to the country's ongoing crisis.

Britain, which drafted the text, and China blamed each other for the failure of the day-long negotiations, which followed a closed-door council meeting on Myanmar in the morning.

For London, China was asking "too much", which led to the collapse of the negotiations.

A spokesman for China's UN delegation told Agence France-Presse that at the end of the day, there was only a "slight difference" to reach an agreement that was "not impossible to overcome".

The original text proposed that the Security Council express deep concern over "limited progress" in implementing a five-point plan on ending the crisis that was set out more than a year ago by Asean. It also called for action to implement the road map.

China proposed using the terms "slow" progress rather than "limited", the Chinese delegation said.

"Our wording was factual but less condescending," said the spokesman, adding that it was "a real shame" that there was no agreement.

The rest of the text, seen by AFP, reflected the Security Council's concern about the continuing violence and humanitarian difficulties in the country.

At the council meeting, Asean envoy for Myanmar Prak Sokhonn, who is also Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, and UN envoy Noeleen Heyzer provided an update on the situation.

According to diplomats, Ms Heyzer, who was appointed in October 2021, has been given a general green light to make her first trip to Myanmar, but has not yet received the necessary authorisations for her stay and the people she may meet.

The UN is insisting that she be able to meet various Burmese parties, not just the ruling junta.

Since the military launched its coup in February 2021, more than 1,800 people have been killed in a crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitoring group.