The US government held talks with Eritrea to explore the possibility of normalizing relations with the isolated Horn of Africa state, drawn by its strategically important Red Sea coastline, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki, who has led the country since breaking away from Ethiopia in 1993, met with Massad Boulos, US President Donald Trump’s senior Africa envoy, in recent months in talks brokered by Egypt. Boulos is due to meet with him again soon, according to one source. The US State Department declined to comment on reports of its plans, which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. A third person familiar with the State Department’s thinking said considerations for an Eritrea relations reset “had been in the works for a very long time.”
Several analysts told Semafor, however, that it would be difficult to resume relations with Eritrea due to the unpredictable nature of its leadership. “At some point in time, every US administration has believed it could tame Isaias,” said Cameron Hudson, a former White House Africa official.