Ethiopia and Russia established diplomatic relations on April 21, 1943. Russia currently has an embassy in Addis Ababa, and Ethiopia has an embassy in Moscow. The Ethiopian ambassador to Russia is also accredited to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
History
Pre-Soviet Union
Early contacts
The first contacts between Russians and Ethiopians took place in the Palestine, where Russian pilgrims met the Ethiopian religious community. Around 1370, the Russian pilgrim Agrefeny described the performance of Ethiopian rites in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In the 1470s, Afanasy Nikitin passed through what is today Eritrea on his way back from India, becoming the first Russian to set foot in Ethiopian lands.
Imperial history
The history of this relationship has its origins in the 19th century. Russia's first steps in the Horn of Africa were taken by a Cossack adventurer named N.I. Ashinov, who attempted to establish a "New Moscow" at the coastal town of Sagallo in modern-day Djibouti. This short-lived settlement came to an end in February 1889 when French authorities removed the 175 Russian settlers. While Ashinov had never more than lukewarm support from the Russian Tsar, a delegation led by V.F. Mashkov to Emperor Menelik II in October 1889 was official. Mashkov discussed arms sales to Ethiopia with the Ethiopian emperor, and upon returning to Russia he was decorated by the Tsar. Mashkov made a second visit to Ethiopia early in 1891 under the sponsorship of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. Paul Henze notes that the reasons of Mashkov's visits were "no doubt political, but the fact that both countries were Orthodox encouraged favorable attitudes on both sides."
During the First Italo-Ethiopian War, Russia was the sole European power that offered diplomatic support to Ethiopia.
A permanent Russian diplomatic presence was established in Addis Ababa in 1902.
Soviet Union
Early Soviet relations
The Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin did not send any aid to Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, and continued trading with Italy during the conflict in spite of sanctions the Soviets themselves officially supported, but the USSR was one of only five nations which never acknowledged Italy's occupation of Ethiopia. Official diplomatic relations between the USSR and Ethiopia were established on 21 April 1943 during World War II.
1974 revolution
Ethiopia established friendly relations with the Soviet Union following a 1974 uprising that forced the long serving Emperor Haile Selassie to cede power to a military council called the Derg ("Committee" in Ge'ez). Despite the implementation of a series of radical socio-economic reforms, Moscow was slow to embrace the new regime for several reasons. First, the Derg continued the old regime's policy of buying arms from the United States. Second, the Soviet Union was reluctant to jeopardize its growing relationship with Somalia, Ethiopia's traditional enemy. Third, a significant segment of the Soviet leadership was skeptical of the revolutionary credentials of the Derg, as Moscow perceived a significant number of its members to be pro-Western.
Soviet backing for the Derg increased as Major Mengistu Haile Mariam emerged as its most powerful member. In 1975, the first group of officers from the regime traveled to the Soviet Union for ideological training, including Lt. Colonel Fikre-Selassie Wogderess, who would later become Mengistu's second in command. Soviet media ran positive portrayals of the Derg and of Mengistu in particular. After the execution of Mengistu's rival, Major Sisal Habte, Soviet support for the regime grew substantially, beginning with a secret $100 million arms deal in December 1976. In May 1977, Mengistu traveled to Moscow to sign a "Declaration on the Principles of Friendly Relations and Cooperation" and to conclude a second arms deal worth about $385 million.