Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the progress of peace talks in Ethiopia.

The breakdown of peace talks and return to conflict between the Tigray People's Liberation Front and the Ethiopian Government is catastrophic for the people of Ethiopia. It risks tens of thousands of deaths - both directly through fighting and indirectly through a further deepening of the already dire humanitarian situation. It will achieve nothing - 22 months since fighting began, it is self-evident that there is no military solution to the conflict.

The only way to resolve this conflict is to reinstate the cessation of hostilities and immediately begin political negotiations. The UK urges Tigrayan troops to return to Tigray, the Ethiopian Government to restore services to Tigray and both parties to begin direct talks. Our Embassy in Addis Ababa is engaging with all parties to the conflict to deliver these messages.