U.S. envoy cautiously optimistic with talks in Ethiopia

NAIROBI, KENYA A United States envoy said Tuesday he sees “nascent progress” in talks with Ethiopia’s warring sides toward a cease fire, but he fears it will be outpaced by “alarming” military developments in the yearlong war in Africa’s second-most populous country.

Jeffrey Feltman spoke to reporters after his latest visit to Ethiopia, where rival Tigray forces continue pushing toward the capital, Addis Ababa, and a growing number of countries tell their citizens to leave immediately.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Monday announced he will lead “from the battlefield” in a war that is estimated to have killed tens of thousands of people.

Feltman said the warring sides are now talking about elements they expect to see on the table in talks, but “the tragedy is” that while the elements are similar, views differ on which to tackle first.

In a sign of the Tigray forces’ defiant position, a statement issued Tuesday by the Tigray external affairs office said that “first, any peace initiative whose principal objective is to save Abiy Ahmed from imminent demise is dead on arrival.”

The U.S. envoy said the Tigray forces must halt their advance on the capital and warned that their demands might increase as they get closer.

The Tigray forces long dominated the national government before Abiy took office in 2018, known for economic development but political repression.

They “would be met with unrelenting hostility if they entered Addis today,” Feltman said.

The envoy said Ethiopia’s prime minister told him his priority is to get the Tigray forces out of the areas they now occupy in the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions, and “we share that objective.”

Meanwhile, he said the Tigray leaders’ priority is breaking the months-long government “siege” on their home region, which has blocked the delivery of food, medicine and other aid.