The European Union is watching the settlement of the conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region and will normalise its relations with authorities there "step by step", the bloc's top diplomat said on Tuesday.

"The message to both the government of Ethiopia and the Tigrayans is to make them understand that we are watching the settling of the conflict and will only normalise our relations in a gradual way, step by step," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Kate Abnett)