Mr Abiy made the announcement at a state dinner on Tuesday night in honour of a high-level Eritrean delegation visiting Ethiopia for the first time in decades.

The meeting came about after the Mr Abiy said Ethiopia would comply with a border commission ruling to hand over contested border territories to Eritrea.

"There will be lands swapped between the two countries but that will not matter - there will not be a border between us as our relationship will strengthen," Mr Abiy was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

Eritrea won independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year conflict - but a border war five years later killed tens of thousands.Diplomatic ties have been cut between the two countries for almost 20 years.