Ethiopia has taken delivery of 12 Russian fighter jets, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced Wednesday on the sidelines of the third Russia-Africa summit, as tensions with neighbouring Eritrea remain high.
Ethiopian forces have pushed right up to the Eritrean border in recent weeks after repelling an advance by Eritrea-backed rebels in its northern Tigray state.
Ethiopia and Eritrea broke diplomatic ties this month, but Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki are both attending the Russia-Africa summit, held Wednesday and Thursday in Moscow, which is hosting delegations from 48 African nations.
“We have today taken delivery of the first twelve Su-35 4++ Generation fighter jets,” the Ethiopian leader stated on X, under a “prior agreement with the Russian government”.
Ethiopia will also receive four “S-400 air defence system batteries,” he added.
Abiy called it a “historic achievement” that would allow Ethiopia to continue “ensuring our collective security and regional stability”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that the summit could be a forum for rapprochement between the fractious Horn of Africa neighbours.
“We are interested in Ethiopia and Eritrea normalising their relations,” Lavrov said, adding Moscow would “provide every opportunity for arranging contact” during the summit.
Eritrea, ruled by Isaias since achieving independence in 1993, fears that landlocked Ethiopia will invade to seize access to the Red Sea.
It was one of only five nations to vote — alongside Syria and North Korea — against a United Nations resolution in March 2022 demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine.
