Ethiopia on Thursday announced its prime minister Abiy Ahmed would meet Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki "soon" amid an unprecedented diplomatic thaw between the two countries, long at each others' throats.

The news comes days after senior Eritrean officials paid their first visit to Ethiopia in two decades following Abiy's offer to cede land that Eritrea claims Ethiopia occupies illegally.

The move paved the way for rapprochement between the two Horn of Africa neighbours whose 1998-2000 border war tattered relations and killed 80,000 people.

"Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki will meet soon," the state-affiliated Fana Broadcast Corporate reported.

Fana added Abiy had sent a letter to Isaias, without giving further details.

The war was sparked by a disagreement over Ethiopia and Eritrea's shared border, and in 2002 a United Nations-backed commission ruled Ethiopia should hand over to Eritrea the town of Badme and a handful of other areas along its northern border.

Ethiopia refused, leading to a diplomatic stalemate with Eritrea, formerly a province that voted for independence in 1993 after decades of conflict.

Eritrea comprised Ethiopia's entire coastline and its separation rendered Africa's second most-populous country landlocked.

- 'Get ready' -

Abiy took office in April after his predecessor resigned following years of anti-government protests and political turmoil.

He has since announced a host of major reforms, including the partial liberalisation of the economy, the release of jailed dissidents and the implementation of the UN boundary ruling.

The move led Eritrea's top diplomat Osman Saleh and presidential adviser Yemane Gebreab to travel to the capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday, where they were greeted by Abiy and a host of Ethiopia's political and cultural elites including legendary long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie.

At a dinner that same day, the three men spoke of peace and reconciliation between their countries, which have over the years engaged in shootouts along their militarised border and supported rebel groups intent on destabilising each other.

"Ethiopians who yearn to walk Massawa, you need to get ready. Ethiopian Airlines will start flights," Abiy said, referring to the seaside Eritrean city and a plan to re-establish air transport links.

But it remains unclear when Ethiopian forces will begin their pullout.

The rapprochement was hailed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose spokesman said in a statement Thursday that, "diplomatic overtures to ease tensions and resolve the longstanding dispute between the two countries will have a far-reaching positive impact on the whole region."

The UN is ready "to play a role in support of the two countries in the implementation of the boundary decision," the statement added.

Since their border war, Ethiopia and Eritrea have taken starkly different paths.

Considered by rights groups one of the world's most repressive states, Eritrea has made the fear of Ethiopian aggression central to its governance.

The country is deeply impoverished, has never implemented its constitution and has had its indefinite national service programme likened by the UN to slavery.

Ethiopia meanwhile has seen its economy grow by double digits for years, though it, too, remains among Africa's poorest states.

Since late 2015, the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has been rocked by anti-government protests that it struggled to quell despite imposing a 10-month nationwide state of emergency in October 2016.

While Abiy is popular among Ethiopians who hope he will shift the EPRDF away from its authoritarian past, he, too, has faced resistance.

Last week, a grenade exploded during his first public appearance in Addis Ababa since taking office, sparking a panic in the crowd of hundreds of thousands that killed two people and injured more than 150.

Abiy announced on Thursday that he had appointed a committee "to investigate conspiracies being committed to deter ongoing reforms," including the grenade attack and cellphone and power outages that occurred on the same day.

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