The United States has urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to exercise maximum restraint and return to dialogue, warning that escalating tensions between the two neighbours risk triggering another devastating conflict in the Horn of Africa.
US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said rising cross-border tensions could destabilise the wider region, which is already grappling with multiple wars and humanitarian crises.
“The Horn of Africa cannot sustain another military conflict and humanitarian crisis,” Pigott said, adding that a confrontation between Ethiopia and Eritrea could also jeopardise Washington’s cooperation with both countries on issues of mutual interest.
The United States called on Addis Ababa and Asmara to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of neighbouring states, avoid further escalation and return to dialogue under the framework of the 2018 peace agreement that ended two decades of hostility between the two countries.
Pigott said dialogue and cooperation remained the only viable path towards sustainable security, economic growth and regional prosperity.
Tensions surge as diplomatic ties collapse
The US warning comes amid a sharp deterioration in relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea and renewed fighting in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, raising fears that the conflict could spill across borders.
Eritrea severed diplomatic relations with Ethiopia on Thursday after Addis Ababa announced the closure of its embassy in Asmara and expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats, including senior representatives.
Ethiopia accused Eritrea of hostile activities threatening its national security, while Asmara rejected the allegations and accused Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government of pursuing an increasingly hostile policy towards Eritrea.
Eritrean authorities have also repeatedly accused Ethiopia of harbouring ambitions to secure direct access to the Red Sea through Eritrean ports and coastal territory.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated steadily despite their landmark 2018 reconciliation, which formally ended nearly two decades of hostility following their bloody 1998-2000 border war.
The latest diplomatic breakdown coincides with a major escalation in Tigray, further increasing concerns that neighbouring states could become drawn into a broader regional confrontation.
The crisis carries particular significance because of Ethiopia and Eritrea’s strategic position in the Horn of Africa and along the Red Sea, one of the world’s most important maritime corridors.
