Former Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta will be heading to South Africa to join Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday as mediators for African Union-brokered peace talks between the Federal government and the forces of Tigray, according to Radio-France International (RFI) and other media reports.

Ethiopia on Wednesday said it had accepted an invitation to attend peace talks led by the African Union Special Representative for the Horn of Africa Olusegun Obasanjo, in South Africa.

The talks are part of an ongoing effort by the AU to maintain consultations in an effort to develop a format and timeline that would bring a resolution to the conflict. Kenyatta, Obasanjo, and South Africa’s former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka would serve on this mediating panel.

The Ethiopian government has accepted the offer, with the country’s national security advisor Redwan Hussein saying that the talks are “in line with our principled position regarding the peaceful resolution of the conflict and the need to have talks without preconditions.” TPLF also on Wednesday said it was ready to attend the meeting, and expressed willingness for a peaceful negotiated cessation of hostilities.