Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on consolidating the end of the state of war recently agreed by the Governments of Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The UK has engaged extensively with the parties and international partners in support of the joint declaration between the Presidents of Eritrea and Ethiopia. This has included discussion at the UN Security Council, which issued a press statement on 10 July, welcoming the commitment by both parties to resume diplomatic ties and open a new chapter of cooperation and partnership.

The Foreign Secretary has written to Ethiopian Foreign Minister Workneh and expressed, inter alia, our support for the normalisation of relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea. He welcomed the positive implications for the stability and prosperity of those countries. Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers have discussed the issue with international counterparts and, earlier in August, the Secretaries of State for Defence and International Development discussed the potential for practical UK support during their respective visits to the region; I will follow this up when I visit Addis Ababa later this year.