(LONDON) - European Union sanctions on Zimbabwe will remain until rival parties there break an impasse and form a government, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Monday.

In a written answer to parliament, Miliband said that positive momentum built up when President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to a power-sharing deal was "fast evaporating."

The deal was signed in Harare on September 15, but Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party and Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change have been deadlocked since then, and a failure to reach an accord on the cabinet has delayed the formation of a unity government.

"The positive momentum generated by the signature is fast evaporating, Zimbabwe's economic and political situation is deteriorating, inflation continues to mount and the people of Zimbabwe are still suffering.

"Until a new Zimbabwean government are appointed and that government show by their action their commitment to reform, EU targeted measures will remain in place," Miliband said.

The British minister added that though humanitarian assistance would continue, "it is not the long-term solution in Zimbabwe."

He said that he would discuss the situation in Zimbabwe with his EU counterparts on October 13.

The ruling party lost its parliamentary majority for the first time to the MDC in March elections, while Tsvangirai failed to win presidential elections outright.

However, Mugabe, 84, kept his job in June after Tsvangirai pulled out of a run-off poll, saying his supporters were in danger from violent attacks blamed on ZANU-PF.

Once one of Africa's most prosperous countries, Zimbabwe now suffers the world's highest rate of inflation, last estimated at 11.2 million percent, with millions dependent on food aid.

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