Relationship dossier
Ethiopia
Russia
Relationship assessment
Cordial ties feature military cooperation and proposed nuclear-energy collaboration, without a formal alliance.
Ethiopia toward Russia
+35Ethiopia has pursued military and nuclear-energy cooperation with Russia, including agreements on military-technical cooperation and a framework for peaceful nuclear-energy collaboration. Its government has also generally avoided joining Western efforts to isolate Russia over Ukraine.
Russia toward Ethiopia
+40Russia has pursued military-technical cooperation with Ethiopia and agreed on a framework for peaceful nuclear-energy collaboration. During the Tigray conflict, Russia emphasized Ethiopia’s sovereignty and opposed treating the conflict as grounds for external pressure.
Overall relationship
+35The relationship is shaped by practical military cooperation, a proposed nuclear-energy partnership, and political engagement on sovereignty and international pressure. These features support a cooperative characterization, but the relationship is not a formal alliance, and the implementation and breadth of the agreements remain uncertain.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
Ethiopia and Russia maintain cordial government relations with practical cooperation in military affairs and nuclear energy. Ethiopia has generally avoided aligning with Western pressure on Russia over the war in Ukraine, while Russia has emphasized Ethiopia’s sovereignty and treated the Tigray conflict as an internal matter. The relationship is cooperative but does not amount to a formal alliance, and the scope and implementation of announced agreements are not fully clear.
Key developments
The two governments signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Ethiopia and Russia signed an agreement on military-technical cooperation.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of military cooperation agreements are unclear.
- The status and practical progress of proposed nuclear-energy cooperation are uncertain.
- The extent of recent bilateral economic cooperation is unclear.