The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he expressed deep appreciation to Saudi Arabia’s King Salman for bringing Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders into signing a peace agreement.

“In Jeddah, I congratulate the leaders of Eritrea and Ethiopia on signing today the Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship, a strong wind of hope for the Horn of Africa and far beyond,” Guterres tweeted on Sunday after attending the signing ceremony.

“I also want to express my deep appreciation to King Salman for bringing the parties together,” he added.

Landlocked Ethiopia fought a bloody war with Eritrea from 1998 to 2000 over a border dispute that killed tens of thousands of people. The conflict ended in an uneasy peace with Eritrea, which earlier fought a decades-long war of independence from Ethiopia.