Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed during his talks with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, October 28, 2026. Photo: Abiy Ahmed Ali via X
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed asked President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin to set dates for a nuclear power feasibility study and discuss financing, as Putin said trade between the two countries had more than doubled this year.
"The first one is nuclear cooperation. Let us set dates for feasibility work and examine financing options," Abiy told Putin on Wednesday, according to the transcript published by the Kremlin late that night. Training Ethiopian engineers and regulators should go ahead alongside that work, he said, and he asked that cancer diagnosis and treatment become "a practical priority" in the cooperation. He said he wanted to begin with specialist training and access to medical isotopes, because nuclear science, for energy and for health, could help Ethiopia "reduce poverty and increase our energy generation."
Putin opened the meeting by congratulating Abiy again on his election as prime minister and said trade between the two countries had exceeded $1.3 billion from January to September, "more than double the figure for the whole of 2025." He listed projects in energy, agriculture, industry, space, science, health and education, and said Russia and Ethiopia "take a united stand in international affairs" at the UN and in BRICS. He also wished Ethiopia success in hosting the UN climate conference in Addis Ababa in 2027.
The make up of the Russian delegation said as much as the words. Alongside Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and two deputy prime ministers, the Kremlin listed the head of the state nuclear company Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, the chief executive of the arms exporter Rosoboronexport, Alexander Mikheyev, the director of the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation, Dmitry Shugayev, Deputy Defence Minister Vasily Osmakov, and the head of Russia's military intelligence directorate, Igor Kostyukov. The meeting came on the same day that Abiy posted video of new fighter jets for the Ethiopian Air Force, which Abiy described as 12 Su-35s from Russia; the Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport told Reuters that the first batch, of two aircraft, had been delivered. Abiy also wrote that Ethiopia would receive four batteries of S-400 air defense systems, without giving a date, according to the Ethiopian News Agency and TASS.
Abiy brought a gift. "I have brought you Medemer in Russian," he told Putin, describing the book as "our philosophy of synergy" that guides how Ethiopia governs and builds its economy. He reminded his host that more than 20,000 Ethiopians were educated in the Soviet Union and Russia, and said Ethiopia wanted to send more goods to Russia "if there are no difficulties on your end." In a post on X after the talks, he called the meeting "fruitful" and said it covered "cooperation in nuclear energy, health, and trade, as well as bilateral and multilateral" issues. The Ethiopian News Agency quoted him as saying the book reflected "our shared commitment to dialogue, mutual understanding."
On Thursday, Abiy addressed the main session of the summit between Russia and African countries, writing on X that Ethiopia "remains focused on three pillars crucial to our national development," and that collective commitment was needed so that "the historic decisions made here yield tangible results."
Not everything went smoothly on camera. The Russian broadcaster RT highlighted a moment at the start of the Kremlin meeting when Abiy reached for his earpiece only after Putin had begun speaking, and Putin smiled, said "it's OK" in English, and started his sentence again. RT's clip was viewed more than 130,000 times.
Reactions from Ethiopians online split along familiar lines. Admirers of the visit, such as @BehiwotTilahun, shared the photo of the book presentation as "a meaningful gesture of friendship, dialogue, and mutual understanding." Critics were scornful. The account @amggebre recalled that "Kremlin sold jets and trained pilots for dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam," and wrote in Amharic that Putin would not save the government.
The visit also renewed talk of Russia as a possible mediator with Eritrea. Lavrov said this week that Moscow was ready to host the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea, and DW Amharic asked its audience on Thursday whether Putin could bring Abiy and President Isaias Afwerki together, after Isaias gave an interview to the Russian agency Sputnik. BBC Amharic, in an analysis on Thursday, examined whether Russia could play that role given its close ties to both governments, and separately looked at what the Su-35 jets mean for the balance of power in the region. Neither the Kremlin nor Addis Ababa said whether Eritrea came up in the talks.
No agreements were announced after the meeting, and neither side published a timeline or a cost for the nuclear plant that Ethiopia has been discussing with Rosatom since 2019. Russia’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Yevgeny Terekhin, told TASS before the summit that Rosatom and Ethiopia were still coordinating a draft intergovernmental agreement on building the plant, and that signing it would start design and engineering work.
"We are happy to be working with Russia, and I believe through this process, our bilateral trade will increase significantly," Abiy told Putin, according to the Kremlin.
Sources
- Kremlin transcript
- Ethiopian News Agency
- Abiy Ahmed Ali on X (meeting)
- Abiy Ahmed Ali on X (summit address)
- Office of the Prime Minister on X
- RT on X
- @BehiwotTilahun on X
- @amggebre on X
- DW Amharic live blog
- BBC Amharic (Russia as mediator)
- BBC Amharic (Su-35 jets)
- TASS (Ambassador Terekhin on the nuclear plant agreement)
- Ethiopian News Agency (Su-35 and S-400)
- Reuters via Yahoo News, October 28, 2026 (Rosoboronexport, first batch of two)