The United States Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said that he was reviewing the possibility of establishing direct diplomatic ties with Somaliland.
Landau confirmed the development on X (formerly Twitter), responding to a post from a Somaliland supporter who urged Washington to cut funding to Somalia and back Somaliland’s strategic ambitions. In reply, Landau wrote: “I have been looking into this situation very closely.”
His response, posted early Saturday morning, marked a rare public acknowledgment from a senior U.S. official suggesting Washington is re-evaluating its longstanding stance on Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but remains internationally unrecognized.
Somaliland, which operates its own government, currency, and military, has refused to establish ties with China — a move that has drawn attention from Western policymakers seeking to counter Chinese and Iranian influence in East Africa. The port city of Berbera is seen as a strategically important location near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea, and could serve as a logistics hub for U.S. operations in the region.
