Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Sudanese army chief Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met in Nairobi on Tuesday on the sidelines of a regional summit in order to calm tensions between the two countries.
“We agreed that our two countries have many elements of cooperation to work on in peace,” Abi Ahmed wrote on his official Twitter account, attaching his tweet with pictures showing him during his conversations with Al-Burhan.
He added, “Our common ties transcend any divisions. We are both committed to dialogue and a peaceful solution to outstanding issues,” stressing that they affirmed their adherence to “dialogue” to resolve any differences.
In Khartoum, the Sovereign Council of Sudan only said that a “closed meeting” was held between Al-Burhan and the Ethiopian Prime Minister on the sidelines of the IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) summit.
The Ethiopian Prime Minister’s office said that the meeting took place “on the sidelines of the IGAD meeting”, which included on Tuesday for the first time in 18 months, leaders of the region’s countries in the Kenyan capital.
Al-Burhan said that the IGAD meeting “provided an opportunity to draw up an inventory of responses to the various challenges” facing the region.
“Peace and security are the basis for development in the region,” he added.
