African countries are considering how to peacefully end the crisis in relations between Somalia and Ethiopia after the latter signed a memorandum of understanding with the breakaway region of Somaliland in order to gain access to the Somali coast, Ugandan Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo told Sputnik on Monday.
"So we are looking at how we can bring those positions together in order to find an amicable solution. We think it is a problem we can be able to deal," Odongo said.
On January 6, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed a law nullifying the memorandum of understanding between Somaliland and Ethiopia. Last week, Somalia urged the United Nations and the African Union to condemn the agreement between the countries.
The Ethiopian government earlier reiterated that the agreement with Somaliland is aimed at facilitating the landlocked nation's access to the Red Sea and enabling Africa's second most populous country to play a key role in regional peace and security.
Somalia collapsed as a unified nation in 1991 with the downfall of Siad Barre's dictatorship. The international community has recognized the Mogadishu-based federal government as the only legitimate authority in Somalia, while chunks of the country in the north and east remain under the control of self-proclaimed and unrecognized Somaliland and Puntland.