Ethiopian, Russian FMs hold phone discuss on bilateral, regional issues

Addis Ababa, February 8, 2021 (FBC) -Ethiopia’s  Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen conferred over the phone today with Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation.

The Deputy Prime Minister briefed Lavrov on the ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in Tigray.

Recalling the telephone conversation the two foreign ministers had last December, Demeke said progress has been achieved in addressing the humanitarian situation in the region and collaborative efforts with humanitarian actors are underway on the ground to fully respond to the people in need of such assistance.

Lavrov thanked the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister for the briefing and said Russian Federation understands and supports the effort the Government of Ethiopia is exerting to address the humanitarian challenges in the Tigray region and added that his Government is always ready to continue to assist Ethiopia in this regard.

Lavrov also underlined the importance of further strengthening the collaboration between Africa and the Russian Federation and expressed the readiness of his Government to hold the African TROIKA-Russian Summit in 2022 in the African soil.

To further enhance the long-standing relations that exist between the two countries, Lavrov emphasized the need to boost trade and business relations and indicated that Russian business associations are increasingly engaging with their African counterparts to take the relation in the field to the next level.

The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on regional issues, among which  Demeke reiterated the position of Ethiopian Government to resolve the border dispute with Sudan in a peaceful and amicable manner.

Both foreign ministers have agreed to further enhance cooperation between the two countries in various fields, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.