The Tigray Liberation Front announced that it is committed to an immediate and coordinated ceasefire, and stressed that the tragic conflict can only be resolved through dialogue, expressing its readiness to engage in a serious peace process under the auspices of the African Union.
The African Union announced the extension of the mandate of its Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Olusegun Obasanjo, who is charged with continuing peace efforts in Ethiopia.
On the other hand, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, discussed during his meeting with the US envoy for the Horn of Africa, Mike Hammer, the conflict in northern Ethiopia, and the efforts made to reach serious negotiations to end it.
Diplomatic sources revealed to Al Jazeera that the two sides discussed setting a road map for settling the conflict, a ceasefire, reaching a permanent agreement, and starting negotiations quickly.
American envoy
Since the fourth of September, the US envoy has started contacts with all parties, and the African Union is taking over the mediation task between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray Front.
The resumption of fighting last month led to the collapse of the truce last March, and the Tigray Front proposed a conditional truce, according to what its spokesman announced last Friday, at a time when renewed fighting led to a halt in the delivery of aid in the Tigray region.
In a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres dated last Wednesday, the leader of the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLD) Gebremichael called for a conditional cessation of hostilities as fighting escalated on several fronts.
Based on a copy of the message - seen by Agence France-Presse, and its authenticity was confirmed by the Front's spokesman, Getachew Reda - Debretsion said that the truce will depend on 4 conditions, including "unrestricted humanitarian access" and the restoration of basic services to Tigray.
The truce allowed aid convoys to enter Tigray for the first time since mid-December, but a United Nations report said last Wednesday that the delivery of shipments - including by air - was halted due to renewed fighting.