Tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Horn of Africa’s most bitter enemies, are escalating after a boundary commission trying to broker a deal to demarcate their border all but conceded defeat.

According to a meeting transcript seen by the Financial Times, Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, president of the independent Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, told the countries earlier this month that after a five-year stalemate: “Effectively, we can do no more.”