Addis Ababa, August 24/ 2021 (Walta) – Ethiopian Ambassador to Russia, Alemayehu Tegenu, said in an interview with Russian News Agency, TASS, that Ethiopia is thankful to Russia for its position on the crisis in Tigray region and Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD).
“Yes, we have discussed this issue with the Russian side at different levels of the government hierarchy. We are very much satisfied with the position taken by the government of the Russian Federation on so many issues,” he said, adding that Ethiopia was sincerely thankful for that.
According to Alemayew, Russia understands very well that the conflict in Tigray is a domestic problem that should be resolved by the Ethiopian government without any external interference.
He added that if anyone wanted to get involved it should be done “by paving a conducive environment to solve the problem” and not by negating the government’s efforts and supporting terrorist groups since some had “been caught red-handed under the disguise of humanitarian aid recently.”
Ambassador Alemayehu Tegenu also noted that Addis Ababa is satisfied with Russia’s position regarding GERD.
“The Russian Federation has made it abundantly clear that the three countries (Ethiopia, the Sudan and Egypt) have the capability to solve the problem by talking to each other in good faith and the AU-led negotiation is the only way out,” he said, noting that Ethiopia agrees with Russia’s position on this issue.
“We do believe that there is no other alternative than negotiation within the existing arrangement,” he added.
It was remembered that the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, has publicly acknowledged members of the UN Security Council who stood by Ethiopia when the issue of GERD was securitized and tabled for discussion twice at the global security body.