July 6, 2026
Borkena Desk
TORONTO, Canada – Russia’s top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, on Monday arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa as analysts are predicting a military confrontation between Russia and NATO as Ukraine continues drone strikes deep inside Russia.
Sources say that his arrival to the country was unannounced.
It was Meles Alem, Director General for European and American Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, who greeted him on arrival at Bole International Airport in the after hours in Addis Ababa time.
Evgeny Terekhin, Russian Ambassador to Ethiopia, was also at Bole International Airport.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia announced on its X page that he will be visiting several other African countries. The trip working visit to Addis Ababa is his first leg. The lists of countries he is visiting after Ethiopia are unspecified.
According to Russian news sources Mr. Lavrov will be meeting with Ethiopian government officials on Tuesday. The construction of a nuclear power plant and strengthening of the relations between the two countries, including in the areas of trade, are reportedly the topics of discussion.
In April this year, borkena reported agreement between the two countries on the roadmap to the development of nuclear energy in Ethiopia.
This is Lavrov’s third trip to Addis Ababa since 2018. When he visited Addis Ababa in July 2022, he was warmly welcomed by the then Minister for Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, Demeke Mekonnen.
Ethiopian FM Gedion Timotheos led a delegation to Moscow in October 2025 where he met with Lavrov to discuss “deepening the longstanding and strategic partnership between the two countries. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern,” as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia put it at the time.
Ethiopia and Russia have over 130 years of diplomatic relations. Both countries are also BRICS members.
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