The United States on Friday ordered a further reduction of American Embassy staff members in strife-torn South Sudan and said it would cease to provide consular services for its citizens as of Saturday, apparently reflecting a somber assessment of the country’s prospects even as its warring factions were reported to have opened preliminary indirect talks in neighboring Ethiopia.

A travel advisory on the website of the State Department said that Washington “ordered a further drawdown of U.S. Embassy personnel because of the deteriorating security situation” in South Sudan, which has been seized with conflict between its main political factions since December.

“We continue to urge U.S. citizens in South Sudan to depart the country,” the message said, offering an evacuation flight on Friday “to the nearest safe haven country” on a “first-come, first-served basis.”

“The U.S. Embassy will no longer be able to provide any consular services to U.S. citizens in the Republic of South Sudan as of January 4, 2014,” the message said.