Ethiopia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gedion Timothewos, held significant bilateral discussions with his Brazilian and Russian counterparts during his participation in the first BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting of 2025 on April 28. The meetings underscored Ethiopia's commitment to active engagement within the expanded BRICS framework and its efforts to deepen strategic partnerships.
Minister Gedion met with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, commending Brazil's stewardship of the BRICS presidency for 2025 and assuring Ethiopia's full support for Brazil's identified priority areas. Their conversation delved into potential areas of enhanced cooperation, including food security initiatives, boosting agricultural productivity, advocating for reforms in global governance institutions, fostering energy transition, and collaborating on afforestation programs. Minister Vieira also highlighted Brazil's recent initiatives during its 2024 G20 Presidency, acknowledging Ethiopia's valuable support, particularly within the Global Alliance against Poverty and Hunger, where Ethiopia serves on the Board of Champions.
In a separate bilateral meeting, Minister Gedion Timothewos met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The Ethiopian top diplomat praised the ongoing strengthening of comprehensive relations between Ethiopia and Russia, emphasizing the mutual need to further enhance these ties across various sectors. The Russian foreign ministry later stated that the ministers specifically discussed cooperation between their countries within the United Nations and the BRICS group, as well as the security situation in the Horn of Africa region. Both sides expressed their intention to "continue expanding comprehensive cooperation in the areas of mutual interest."
According to the Russian foreign ministry, the two ministers called for "expanding Russian-Ethiopian contacts within various multilateral formats, first of all the United Nations and BRICS." They also exchanged views on a wide array of pressing global and regional issues, with particular attention given to collaborative efforts between Moscow and Addis Ababa to ensure peace and security in the Horn of Africa. The ministers reiterated their countries' readiness for closer cooperation aimed at consolidating the legal framework of the multipolar world. Minister Lavrov reaffirmed Russia's commitment to deepening the historic relations with Ethiopia through concrete collaboration in both bilateral and multilateral venues.
The series of high-level meetings reflects Ethiopia's proactive diplomatic engagement on the international stage, leveraging platforms like BRICS to advance its national interests and contribute to discussions on global and regional stability.