Ethiopia says regional ministers have approved a six-month extension of the looming deadline for South Sudan's rival leaders to form a unity government.

Ethiopia's government announced the approval in a Facebook post on Wednesday after a meeting of the council of East African ministers.

South Sudan had faced a May 12 deadline for opposition leader Riek Machar to return to the country and once again become President Salva Kiir's deputy. It is the crucial next step in a fragile peace deal to end a five-year civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people.

Both South Sudan's government and Machar's opposition requested the six-month extension last week.

The committee overseeing the peace deal's implementation says key elements have yet to be put in place.