Ethiopia |
Russia |
Ethiopia–Russia relations (Russian: Российско-эфиопские отношения) is the relationship between the two countries, Ethiopia and Russia. Russia currently has an embassy in Addis Ababa, and Ethiopia has an embassy in Moscow. The Ethiopian ambassador to Russia is also accredited to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
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The history of this relationship has its origins in the 19th century. Russia's first steps in the Horn of Africa were taken by a Cossack adventurer named N.I. Ashinov, who attempted to establish a "New Moscow" at the coastal town of Sagallo in modern-day Djibouti. This short-lived settlement came to an end in February 1889 when French authorities removed the 175 Russian settlers.[1] While Ashniov had never more than lukewarm support from the Russian Tsar, a delegation led by V.F. Mashkov to Emperor Menelik II in October 1889 was official. Mashkov discussed arms sales to Ethiopia with the Ethiopian emperor, and upon returning to Russia he was decorated by the Tsar. Mashkov made a second visit to Ethiopia early in 1891 under the sponsorship of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. Paul Henze notes that the reasons of Mashkov's visits were "no doubt political, but the fact that both countries were Orthodox encouraged favorable attitudes on both sides."[2]
Russia provided the mountain guns the Ethiopian army used in the 1895 Battle of Adwa.[3] The Soviet Union was one of only five nations which refused to acknowledge Italy's occupation of Ethiopia.[4] Official diplomatic relations between the two countries were established 21 April 1943.[5]
In 1977, the Derg turned to the Soviet Union, its ties to the United States were severed over the Derg's human rights record. On 4–8 May 1977 a state delegation of Ethiopia led by Mengistu Haile Mariam came to the Soviet Union on an official visit, and Mengistu was received by Leonid Brezhnev.[5] The Soviet Union had been supplying equipment and some advisers for months. When the Soviet Union continued to aid Ethiopia as a way of gaining influence in the country, Somalia, which until then had been a Soviet client, responded by abrogating its Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with Moscow and by expelling all Soviet advisers. The Soviet turnaround affected the course of the war. Starting in late November 1977, the Soviet military assistance arrived in Ethiopia, and Cuban troops were deployed from Angola to assist the Ethiopian army units. By the December, 17,000 Cubans had arrived and the Western Somali Liberation Front advance was halted.[6]
In 2008 the joint Russian-Ethiopian economic commission allowed Russia to import Ethiopian aromatic coffees on a preferential basis.[7]
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