U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali to de-escalate mounting tensions with neighbouring Eritrea and respect territorial sovereignty, warning that the Horn of Africa cannot tolerate further conflict.
In a phone call on Thursday, Rubio stressed that all countries in the region must avoid cross-border incursions and maintain the territorial integrity of their neighbours. The Secretary of State underscored that the only sustainable solution to the area’s internal and external disputes is through dialogue and engagement, in accordance with the 2018 Ethiopia-Eritrea peace framework.
The high-level diplomatic intervention follows a severe deterioration in bilateral relations over the past year, largely driven by Ethiopia’s renewed public push to secure maritime access to the Red Sea. Assertive rhetoric from Addis Ababa regarding the Eritrean port of Assab has stoked anxieties among regional diplomats and analysts over a potential military confrontation, as both nations have reportedly engaged in forward troop deployments and traded accusations of proxy violence.
Rubio warning comes against backdrop of rhetoric from Ethiopia
Rubio’s call for restraint arrives as the Ethiopian federal government simultaneously battles multiple, cascading domestic insurgencies. Following the collapse of a November 2022 peace agreement, federal forces are again facing major armed hostilities from regional forces in the northern Tigray region. This renewed northern front compounds ongoing, widespread clashes between the national military and Fano militias in the Amhara region, as well as persistent fighting with rebel factions in Oromia.
The State Department affirmed that Rubio supports de-escalation by all sides to prevent a wider conflagration in the already volatile region.
