عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Ethiopia Turns Down Agreement on ‘Renaissance Dam’

Water flows through Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam as it undergoes construction work on the river Nile in Guba Woreda, Benishangul Gumuz Region, Ethiopia September 26, 2019. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo
Water flows through Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam as it undergoes construction work on the river Nile in Guba Woreda, Benishangul Gumuz Region, Ethiopia September 26, 2019. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo
TT
TT

Ethiopia Turns Down Agreement on ‘Renaissance Dam’

Water flows through Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam as it undergoes construction work on the river Nile in Guba Woreda, Benishangul Gumuz Region, Ethiopia September 26, 2019. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo
Water flows through Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam as it undergoes construction work on the river Nile in Guba Woreda, Benishangul Gumuz Region, Ethiopia September 26, 2019. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File Photo

Ahead of an anticipated round of talks on Renaissance Dam Monday, as revealed by Addis Ababa – Egyptian and Ethiopian officials released separate statements that showed "the continuing divergence between the two sides."

While Egypt described the Ethiopian stance as ‘incooperative’, Ethiopia restated that it couldn't sign a binding agreement on passing specific shares of waters from Renaissance Dam to the downstream countries.

Spokesperson for Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dina Mufti said that the negotiation among Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt will start on Monday, as reported by Ethiopian News Agency (ENA). He said Ethiopia was not willing to give up on its national interest for the sake of other parties under the US pressures.

Mufti added that the US severing ties with Ethiopia would impact the US, not Ethiopia.

Recent reports have said Egypt is trying to establish a military base in Somaliland. Commenting on this, Mufti said that Egypt establishing ties with any country doesn’t influence Ethiopia.

Ali Abdel-Aal, the speaker of the House of Representatives, told Al-Ahram daily newspaper that Ethiopia endorsed a negative approach that contradicts with goodwill. This approach lasted for around eight years that witnessed several rounds of talks.

He added that Egyptian understanding of the development needs of Ethiopians was met with intransigence and procrastination.

Abdel-Aal said that Egypt dealt diplomatically with the crisis and pushed towards negotiations.

Since 2011, there three countries have been negotiating to reach an agreement on filling and operating the Renaissance Dam – however, they failed to seal a deal.

Egypt and Sudan aspire to reach a comprehensive deal on the Renaissance Dam including its management but Ethiopia rejects this while Egypt considers that it has a ‘historic right’ in the river by virtue of deals signed in 1929 and 1959. Yet, Ethiopia relies on a signed agreement in 2010 that approves implementing irrigation and dams’ projects at the river. Egypt and Sudan refused this agreement.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Ukraine Pushes for NATO Invite 30 Years after Failed Nuclear Deal

Russia's T-72 tank drives during military drills held at a firing range amid Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the southern Krasnodar region, Russia, December 2, 2024. (Reuters)
Russia's T-72 tank drives during military drills held at a firing range amid Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the southern Krasnodar region, Russia, December 2, 2024. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Ukraine Pushes for NATO Invite 30 Years after Failed Nuclear Deal

Russia's T-72 tank drives during military drills held at a firing range amid Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the southern Krasnodar region, Russia, December 2, 2024. (Reuters)
Russia's T-72 tank drives during military drills held at a firing range amid Russia-Ukraine conflict, in the southern Krasnodar region, Russia, December 2, 2024. (Reuters)

Ukraine on Tuesday blasted an agreement struck 30 years ago under which it relinquished nuclear weapons in exchange for security assurances that never materialized, as it makes a concerted push for an invitation to join the NATO alliance.

Kyiv is desperately calling for robust security guarantees to protect it from renewed Russian aggression as US President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House raises fears of a rapidly-struck settlement to the war that would leave it exposed.

Ukraine's foreign ministry pointed to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum which saw Kyiv give up the world's third largest nuclear arsenal in return for security assurances, including from Russia, after the 1991 Soviet breakup.

"Today, the Budapest Memorandum is a monument to short-sightedness in strategic security decision-making," the ministry wrote in a statement, marking this week's anniversary of the Dec. 5, 1994, agreement.

It said the agreement "should serve as a reminder to the current leaders of the Euro-Atlantic community that building a European security architecture at the expense of Ukraine's interests, rather than taking them into consideration is destined to failure".

Ukraine has denounced the memorandum since 2014, long before the 2022 invasion, when Russian troops seized and annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula before backing paramilitary proxies in the east.

The fighting in Ukraine's east, which killed thousands, was brought to an uneasy ceasefire followed by dozens of rounds of talks under what was known as the Minsk agreements.

Even after almost three years of all-out war, Kyiv has balked at the prospect of a return to similar negotiations that could see a temporary ceasefire but leave open the prospect of a new Russian invasion.

"Enough of the Budapest Memorandum. Enough of the Minsk Agreements. Twice is enough, we cannot fall into the same trap a third time. We simply have no right to do so," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said.

Kyiv wants NATO members to issue an invitation at a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers that starts on Tuesday, as the invasion grinds toward its three-year mark and Russia makes battlefield gains.

The foreign ministry statement called on the United States and Britain, also signatories to the 1994 memorandum, as well as France and China, which it said also acceded to it, to support the provision of security guarantees to Ukraine.

"We are convinced that the only real guarantee of security for Ukraine, as well as a deterrent to further Russian aggression against Ukraine and other states, is Ukraine's full membership in NATO," it said.

Russia sees the idea of Ukraine's integration into NATO as anathema and says it is an unacceptable security threat.