A group of U.S. senators has called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to urgently engage the parties to Ethiopia’s renewed conflict, warning that the Pretoria peace agreement is “unraveling” as fighting intensifies across northern Ethiopia.
In a statement published by the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the senators called for direct American diplomatic engagement with the Ethiopian federal government, Tigrayan leaders and other armed actors to halt the escalation and return the parties to negotiations.
The lawmakers raised concerns about actions by both sides, including federal military operations and allegations that Tigrayan forces have failed to disarm, undermined the interim administration and forcibly recruited civilians.
Their intervention comes as fighting has expanded across Tigray, Amhara and Afar, raising fears that the 2022 Pretoria Agreement—which ended the previous devastating northern Ethiopia war—may no longer be capable of containing the conflict.
The senators also questioned the timing of the Trump administration’s decision to allow the executive order underpinning the Ethiopia sanctions framework to expire shortly before the latest escalation.
The congressional intervention increases pressure on Washington to re-engage diplomatically as Ethiopia faces its most serious military escalation since the Pretoria agreement was signed in November 2022.
