UN voting record · Africa
How Ethiopia votes at the UN
Ethiopia votes with the developing-country majority on most resolutions at the UN General Assembly. In 2025 it agreed with China on 92% and India on 92% of recorded votes (votes where each country's choice is listed), with Russia on 81%, and with the United States on 9%. It has not voted yes on any Ukraine resolution, and in June 2025 it switched from yes to abstaining on Gaza texts.
- 92%
With ChinaIn 2024: 86% - 92%
With IndiaIn 2024: 86% - 81%
With RussiaIn 2024: 66% - 9%
With the USIn 2024: 34%
Share of recorded General Assembly votes on which Ethiopia and each country voted the same way, 2025.
Does Ethiopia vote with Russia or the West?
Ethiopia describes itself as non-aligned. In 2025 it agreed with Russia on 81% of recorded votes (average 78%) and with the United States on 9% (average 14%). Its 92% with China ranks 76th of 190 members (average 87%). Its 73% with the United Kingdom ranks 169th (average 79%) but is Ethiopia's highest since 1991. In the Cuba embargo debate on October 28, 2025, Ethiopia's delegate said Ethiopia aligns itself with "the African Group, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the Group of 77 and China," the UN's main developing-country blocs. Ethiopia joined BRICS, a group of large emerging economies, in January 2024. President Taye Atske Selassie told the Assembly in September 2025: "Coercive measures and trade restrictions, in particular those targeting Africa, must be lifted immediately."
The United States voted no on 174 of 192 recorded votes in 2025, so most members' agreement with it fell. Ethiopia usually abstains on resolutions criticizing a single country's human rights record. In 2021 the Human Rights Council voted to create a commission investigating alleged abuses by all parties to the Tigray war. Ethiopia's then ambassador in Geneva, Zenebe Kebede, said the Council was being used for political pressure, and Ethiopia refused to cooperate. The mandate ended in October 2023. Ethiopia now sits on the Council and was chosen as a vice-president for 2026, representing the African Group.
How does Ethiopia vote on Ukraine and Gaza?
Ethiopia has not voted yes on any Ukraine resolution, and in June 2025 it switched from yes to abstaining on Gaza texts. Ethiopia did not vote on the March 2, 2022 resolution "Aggression against Ukraine," which demanded that Russia withdraw its forces. The prime minister's office said the next day that it was concerned at "the escalation of rhetoric," urged restraint on both sides and cited the damage done by the 2020-2022 war in Tigray. Ethiopia voted no on suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council in April 2022. An analysis by Hannah Ryder and Etsehiwot Kebret, published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in March 2022, said Russian support at the Security Council over Tigray "certainly influenced" Ethiopia's decision not to vote. The government has never given that reason. Ethiopia abstained on every Ukraine resolution in 2025 and again on February 24, 2026. No public explanation has been found.
Ethiopia abstained on the first Gaza text in October 2023, voted yes in December 2023, May 2024 and December 2024, then abstained in June 2025, on the New York Declaration on a two-state solution in September 2025, and on five Palestine texts in December 2025. President Taye Atske Selassie told the Assembly in September 2025: "We affirm our historic position on the right of the Palestinian people for self-determination."
- Mar 2022"Aggression against Ukraine"141 yes, 5 no, 35 abstainedDidn't vote
- Apr 2022Suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council93 yes, 24 no, 58 abstainedNo
- Feb 2025Peace in Ukraine, February 202593 yes, 18 no, 65 abstainedAbstained
- Oct 2023Humanitarian truce in Gaza, October 2023120 yes, 14 no, 45 abstainedAbstained
- Dec 2023Ceasefire in Gaza, December 2023153 yes, 10 no, 23 abstainedYes
- Dec 2024Ceasefire in Gaza, December 2024158 yes, 9 no, 13 abstainedYes
- Jun 2025Ceasefire in Gaza, June 2025149 yes, 12 no, 19 abstainedAbstained
- Sep 2025Endorsing the New York Declaration on a two-state solution142 yes, 10 no, 12 abstainedAbstained
Has the UN voted on Ethiopia's disputes with Egypt and Eritrea?
Neither dispute has come to a vote. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is Africa's largest hydropower project. Egypt and Sudan have sought a binding agreement on how it is filled and run. Ethiopia inaugurated the dam in September 2025. Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty wrote to the Security Council calling the inauguration "an unlawful unilateral act." Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos replied, calling the dam a "generational aspiration fulfilled."
Since October 2023, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said Ethiopia needs access to the Red Sea, while saying Ethiopia "will not pursue its interests through war." Eritrea's government has dismissed the demand. On September 23, 2026, fighting broke out in Tigray between the federal army and an alliance led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The government calls it a TPLF offensive. The TPLF calls it self-defense. Federal forces entered Mekelle, Tigray's capital, on October 3.
On October 9, Ethiopia wrote to the Security Council, accusing Eritrea of sending troops and invoking Article 51 of the UN Charter, which covers a country's right to self-defense. Eritrea's Foreign Minister Osman Saleh replied that Ethiopia's letter amounted to a declaration of war and asked the Council to act under Chapter VII of the Charter, which allows sanctions or the use of force. The Council met on October 13, without a vote. Despite the disputes, Ethiopia agreed with Egypt and with Eritrea on 95% of recorded votes in 2025. The situation is developing.
Which countries vote most like Ethiopia?
Compare with any country →Ethiopia's closest matches in 2025 are African and developing states such as Eswatini, Zambia and Bolivia. Its least alike in 2025 were the United States (9%), Israel (26%) and Argentina (37%).
Eswatini99%
Zambia99%
Bolivia98%
Equatorial Guinea98%
Guinea-Bissau98%
Tanzania98%
2 countries at 99%
- United States9%
Israel26%
Argentina37%
Nauru70%
Paraguay72%
How did Ethiopia vote on the big votes?
| Vote | Ethiopia | United States | China | Russia | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A just and lasting peace in UkraineFebruary 24, 2025 | Abstained | No | Abstained | No | Adopted 93–18 |
| Russia's invasion of UkraineMarch 2, 2022 | Didn't vote | Yes | Abstained | No | Adopted 141–5 |
| Demanding a permanent ceasefire in GazaJune 12, 2025 | Abstained | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 149–12 |
| The New York Declaration on two statesSeptember 12, 2025 | Abstained | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 142–10 |
| Ending the US embargo on CubaOctober 29, 2025 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Adopted 165–7 |
Where does Ethiopia sit?
Ethiopia sits in the large developing-country group on the left of the strip, near China, with Egypt and Eritrea further left.
United KingdomOther voting records
Egypt
Eritrea
Nigeria
South Africa- United States
- China