US and UK urge Ethiopia and Eritrea to show restraint amid border buildup

The United States and the United Kingdom have urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to exercise restraint and return to dialogue under their 2018 peace framework. DW reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned the military buildup on the Ethiopia-Eritrea border could escalate into a wider conflict.

What happened?

DW reported that Rubio spoke to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Saturday. He warned that the buildup on the border could escalate into a wider conflict. The United Kingdom also called for renewed talks between the two sides, according to DW.

The calls follow fighting inside Ethiopia. DW reported that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced an interim government in the northern Tigray region on Friday and gave it six months to prepare for regional elections and restore stability. The announcement came after a military offensive launched in September by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and six other armed groups, which DW said were forced to retreat and lost control of the region.

Who is involved?

Ethiopia and Eritrea are the two states at the centre of the warnings. According to DW, they were once bitter enemies but signed a peace agreement in 2018. Eritrean forces later fought alongside Ethiopian federal troops in the Tigray war, and the relationship has since deteriorated.

DW reported that Addis Ababa has accused Asmara of supporting Tigrayan forces and violating Ethiopian territory. Eritrea has denied the accusations. Reports of Eritrean troop movements near the border have heightened concern, DW said, although the extent of any current deployment remains disputed.

What have officials said?

Rubio said Washington hoped lifting some sanctions would improve communication with both sides, DW reported. He stressed the need for a "wise and measured" response to avoid a broader regional war.

Of the UK position, DW quoted the statement: "We urgently call for de-escalation and a return to dialogue."

On Tigray, DW quoted Abiy as saying in a statement on X that the people of Tigray must break free from the cycle of conflict. Shishay Amare, the new mayor of the regional capital Mekelle, told Agence France-Presse, as cited by DW, that the administration would "create the right conditions for elections by ensuring peace and stability across Tigray". He said he was confident this would be done within six months.

What is the background to the tensions?

DW reported that the fighting has revived concerns about a return to the 2020–2022 Tigray war. Around 1 million people remain displaced from that conflict, and the African Union has estimated that it caused around 600,000 deaths from combat, famine and the collapse of healthcare.

The new administration faces unresolved disputes over political authority and territory, DW said, including western Tigray, which is claimed by both Tigray and neighbouring Amhara state.

Tsedale Lemma, a journalist and publisher of Addis Standard magazine, told DW earlier this month that the danger reflects years of unresolved tensions and failures to implement the November 2022 Pretoria Agreement, which ended the Tigray war. She said the international community was "absolutely underestimating" the threat of conflict.

What are the wider risks?

DW said the confrontation comes amid instability across the Horn of Africa, including Sudan's war and tensions between Ethiopia and Egypt over the Nile mega-dam project. It also noted that competition over Red Sea access adds a strategic dimension, because Ethiopia became landlocked when Eritrea gained independence in 1993.

Martin Plaut, a journalist who specialises in the Horn of Africa, has warned that the region is at a crossroads, according to DW. He raised the possibility of Ethiopian forces entering Eritrea, but DW stressed that an invasion remains a scenario, not a confirmed decision by the Ethiopian government.