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Ethiopia's Abiy calls for diplomacy to end Ukraine crisis

Friday March 04 2022
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. PHOTO | FILE

By TESFA-ALEM TEKLE

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Thursday called on all parties to conflict in Ukraine to exercise maximum restraint and step up diplomatic efforts to end the devastating crises in Europe.

Abiy's statement came a day after Ethiopia missed a crucial vote at the United Nations General Assembly where representatives had gathered to vote on a resolution on the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

A total of 141 countries voted in favour of the UN resolution while five countries—Russia, North Korea Belarus, Syria, and Eritrea—voted against the resolution deploring Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

35 other countries, mainly from Africa, abstained from the voting.

Ethiopia was among the 13 other countries that did not attend the UN session, and hence was marked absent from the voting.

Peaceful resolution

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He said Ethiopia has suffered consequences of the conflict in Tigray and the world should learn lessons from this.

“Ethiopia has abundant lessons to share from its recent engagement in war. Our experience has shown the devastating consequence that war inflicts upon families, communities, livelihoods and the economy at large,” Abiy said in a statement Thursday.

“While the material consequence of war can be thought to be easily replenished, it is the lasting impact on the fabric of society that scars nations.

“It is with this recent recollection of war still fresh for many Ethiopians that my government calls upon all parties involved to exercise maximum caution in engagement and refrain from further exacerbating a sensitive situation.”

The 2019 World Nobel peace prize winner said Ethiopia is closely following the developments in Europe with great caution.

“We express our concern at the escalating rhetoric that risks further intensifying the issue,” he said, urging parties to back alternative pathways to resolving the crisis peacefully.

PM Abiy said the use of diplomatic “tools of creating international harmony are within our means.”

He further expressed Ethiopia's “sincerest wishes for peace to prevail as all concerned parties explore peaceful alternatives to the current status quo.”

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