The United States urges Ethiopia and Eritrea to exercise restraint amid tensions

The United States has urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to exercise restraint in light of the tensions between the two countries, warning that they could affect the entire region.

The US State Department said in a statement on Sunday that “the Horn of Africa region cannot bear the consequences of a military conflict or another humanitarian crisis,” and that “the outbreak of a conflict would jeopardize existing American cooperation with both countries regarding common interests.”

The Foreign Ministry called on the two countries to "respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their neighbors, exercise the utmost restraint, and return to dialogue and cooperation in accordance with what was agreed upon within the framework of the peace concluded between them in 2018."

The statement noted that "peace based on dialogue is the only way to achieve sustainable security, economic growth and prosperity."

In recent weeks, Tigray's rebels have been fighting against the federal government again, while forces that were once enemies fight side by side.

Tigray forces seized 3 airports that were under the control of the federal government, coinciding with the outbreak of fighting in the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions.

These hostilities undermined the 2022 peace agreement, which ended a war estimated to have killed some 600,000 people. Relations between the federal government and Tigray's leaders have been deteriorating for months.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced last weekend that it had decided to close its embassy in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, in response to what it described as “direct and indirect acts of hostility and escalation carried out by Eritrea against Ethiopia,” according to ENA.