The Government of Eritrea had accepted on Sunday, June 14, 1998, the
proposal put forward by President Clinton on the total ban of the use and threat of use of air strikes by both sides. The Government of Eritrea had accepted this proposal, which it saw as "a positive first step towards ending the war", because it did not start the air-war in the first place and all the actions that it had taken were in legitimate self-defense and as a means of deterrence.
The Government of Ethiopia has however violated this agreement, both
through its official belligerent pronouncements and its communications to commercial airlines and shipping lines. Through these threats to use air strikes in violation of its expressed commitment to the US Government, the Government of Ethiopia is effectively maintaining the illegal blockade that it had imposed on international flights and shipping.
The efforts to de-escalate the conflict have thus been frustrated as the Government of Ethiopia continues to escalate the tension.
The Government of Eritrea has communicated these violations to the US
Government. The Government of Eritrea will await a positive response. If all efforts to persuade the Government of Ethiopia to honor its commitments on the total ban of air strikes fail and the blockade continues, however, the Government of Eritrea will have no option but to take appropriate deterrent measures.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
19 June 1998, Asmara