The Ethiopian government says it is ready to come to a deal with Egypt and Sudan on the rules of filling and operating the controversial Ethiopian on the Blue Nile, reported Egypt Today.
In a series of tweets, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that his government seeks to solve any differences with the two other countries.
“Ethiopia stands ready to resolve any differences and outstanding concerns by consultation among the three countries,” Mr. Abiy tweeted.
“The Government of Ethiopia will reinforce its effort to make the ongoing trilateral dialogue a success. It also expects a similar commitment from the two downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan,” he added.
The Ethiopian prime minister’s statement comes after the Egypt government announced that the tripartite negotiations on the dam among the water ministers of the three states reached a deadlock and called out for an international mediator in the talks.
On Saturday, Mohamed Al-Sebai, the spokesperson of Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, said Egypt’s request came in consistency with Article No. 10 of the 2015 Declaration of Principles that was signed by the three countries.
Sebai added that the Renaissance Dam negotiation talks have reached a dead end as Ethiopia rejected all the proposals that take into account Egypt’s water interests and avoid causing serious harm to Egypt.
The Egyptian presidency called on the United States to play an active role in the issue, invoking the need for an international party to solve the issue.
Ethiopia started construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River back in 2012. The $4 billion dam is expected to begin generating power by the end of 2020 and become fully operational by 2022. Egypt is worried that the dam will reduce its water supplies to a great extent and says decades-old treaties guarantee that it has historic rights to the river.
