US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced hope Wednesday that diplomacy would succeed in halting a deadly war in Ethiopia after major rebel advances.
“I believe that all sides see the dangers of perpetuating the conflict,” Blinken told reporters amid efforts by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo as well as US envoy Jeffrey Feltman.
“We are hopeful that, given the important work that president Obasanjo is engaged in — the efforts that we’re making and others are engaged in — that there is still a window to pull back and to move this to a better place,” Blinken said.
He hoped for negotiations to halt the violence and “ultimately use the ceasefire to have access for humanitarian assistance and, over time, to negotiate a more durable political resolution.”
Ethnic Tigrayan rebels have moved closer to Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa in recent days and joined forces with other armed groups, a year after an offensive in the northern region in response to an attack on the army.
