According to Evgeny Terekhin, the Russian ambassador in Addis, Ethiopia and Somalia, to resolve conflict without outside interference, so far neither side asked to mediate the crisis
Ethiopia and Somalia will settle the crisis sparked by Addis Ababa’s signing of a maritime access memorandum with Somaliland without outside interference, Russian Ambassador to Addis Ababa Evgeny Terekhin said in a conversation with TASS.
“This issue should be settled between the two countries; I am sure they will find a mutually acceptable solution,” he said.
“So far, no one is asking us [to mediate]; we are not imposing our services as a mediator. If they need any help or assistance, they will make such a request, then we will talk; but for now, there is no topic for conversation,” the ambassador added.
Tensions in relations between Ethiopia and the Federal Republic of Somalia escalated after Addis Ababa and Somaliland concluded a memorandum of understanding to ensure Ethiopia’s access to the latter’s seaports on the Gulf of Aden.
The Somali authorities have said they intend to challenge the memorandum, which they believe violates the country’s sovereignty. There have been a series of mass demonstrations condemning the memorandum in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Several countries, including the US and Egypt, have expressed a commitment to upholding Somalia’s territorial integrity.
About Evgeny Terekhin, Russian Ambassador to Ethiopia
Born in 1958, the current Russian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Evgeny Terekhin, graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1981. After graduation, Ethiopia was the first country he was assigned to.
Between 1981-84 young Evgeny Terekhin worked as an Administrative Assistant on Duty in the Embassy of the Soviet Union in Ethiopia. Although he went back to Russia and worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a year, his engagements with Ethiopia continued in 1985 as he became an attaché at the Embassy of the Soviet Union in Ethiopia.
After another spell at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union and Russian Federation between 1989 and 1992, he returned to Ethiopia in 1992 and served as second and first secretary at the Embassy of the Russian Federation to Ethiopia until 1997.
In yet another round of service in Ethiopia, Evgeny Terekhin worked as Minister-Counsellor of the Russian Embassy to Ethiopia between 2002 and 2006.
After a long time of absence, he returned to Ethiopia as his country’s ambassador in 2019. As a career diplomat who spent a considerable amount of his years of service in Ethiopia, Evgeny Terekhin knows about Ethiopian politics and the regional dynamic very well.
