Three-Way Talks over Ethiopian Dam Fail in Kinshasa

This handout picture taken on July 20, 2020, and released by Adwa Pictures on July 27, 2020, shows an aerial view of the GERD on the Blue Nile River in Guba, northwest Ethiopia. (AFP)
This handout picture taken on July 20, 2020, and released by Adwa Pictures on July 27, 2020, shows an aerial view of the GERD on the Blue Nile River in Guba, northwest Ethiopia. (AFP)
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Three-Way Talks over Ethiopian Dam Fail in Kinshasa

This handout picture taken on July 20, 2020, and released by Adwa Pictures on July 27, 2020, shows an aerial view of the GERD on the Blue Nile River in Guba, northwest Ethiopia. (AFP)
This handout picture taken on July 20, 2020, and released by Adwa Pictures on July 27, 2020, shows an aerial view of the GERD on the Blue Nile River in Guba, northwest Ethiopia. (AFP)

Egypt and Sudan said on Tuesday that the latest round of talks with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Kinshasa have ended with no progress made.

Delegations from the three countries were meeting in the Democratic Republic of Congo hoping to break a deadlock in negotiations over a project Ethiopia says is key to its economic development and power generation.

Egypt fears the dam will imperil its supplies of Nile water, while Sudan is concerned about the dam’s safety and water flows through its own dams and water stations.

Before the meetings began, Egypt had said they represented the last chance to re-start negotiations before Ethiopia begins to fill the dam for the second year in a row after seasonal rains begin this summer.

Sudan’s foreign minister Mariam al-Sadig al-Mahdi told reporters on Tuesday that Ethiopia’s insistence on such unilateral moves represents a violation of international law.

“This Ethiopian intransigence requires Sudan to consider all possible options to protect its security and its citizens,” the Sudanese irrigation and water resources ministry said in a statement.

Ethiopian water minister Seleshi Bekele did not respond to texts and calls seeking comment.

Sudan and Egypt were aligned on a proposal to include the European Union, United States and United Nations in the negotiations, as an addition to current African Union mediators.

Both countries said Ethiopia rejected the proposal during the meeting, as well as other suggestions to re-start negotiations.

“This position reveals once again Ethiopia’s lack of political will to negotiate in good faith,” Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Sudan, which is also locked in a border dispute with Ethiopia, had hosted Egypt for air force training exercises that concluded on Saturday.

Last week, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said there would be “inconceivable instability in the region” if Egypt’s water supply were affected by the dam.

“Without a new approach to negotiations, there becomes space for Ethiopia to impose a fait accompli and put all the peoples of the region in grave danger,” said al-Mahdi.



Germany’s Merz Announces Gaza Aid Airlift, Mulls Upping Ante on Israel

 28 July 2025, Berlin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at a press conference at the Federal Chancellery, after the Security Cabinet meeting on the conflicts in the Middle East. (dpa)
28 July 2025, Berlin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at a press conference at the Federal Chancellery, after the Security Cabinet meeting on the conflicts in the Middle East. (dpa)
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Germany’s Merz Announces Gaza Aid Airlift, Mulls Upping Ante on Israel

 28 July 2025, Berlin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at a press conference at the Federal Chancellery, after the Security Cabinet meeting on the conflicts in the Middle East. (dpa)
28 July 2025, Berlin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks at a press conference at the Federal Chancellery, after the Security Cabinet meeting on the conflicts in the Middle East. (dpa)

Germany will immediately launch an airlift to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza as it considers stepping up pressure on Israel over the "catastrophic" situation in the enclave, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday.

As the death toll from almost two years of war in Gaza nears 60,000, a growing number of people are dying from starvation and malnutrition, Gaza health authorities say, with images of starving children shocking the world and fueling international criticism of Israel over sharply worsening conditions.

Germany, together with the United States, has long remained one of Israel's staunchest allies and largest arms suppliers.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday many people were starving in the enclave, contradicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who denied there was starvation there.

The German security cabinet convened for more than two hours on Monday to discuss the situation, Merz told a news conference in Berlin. While it welcomed Israel's announcement of a halt in military operations for 10 hours a day in parts of Gaza as an "important first step", it agreed more must follow.

Asked if the council discussed sanctions like suspending the EU pact governing relations with Israel, a move Germany has in the past rejected, Merz said the council had discussed what options were available.

"We are keeping such steps on the table," he said.

Before making any decisions, however, he would try to speak with Netanyahu later on Monday and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul would travel to the region on Thursday, possibly together with his British and French counterparts. The German government would then reassess the situation over the weekend.

In the meantime, Berlin would do what it could to help alleviate the humanitarian situation, launching an airlift in cooperation with Jordan to deliver aid into Gaza.

"Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will closely coordinate with France and the UK, who are also willing to provide such an airlift for food and medical supplies," he said.

"We know that this can only provide very limited help for the people in Gaza, but it is nonetheless a contribution we are eager to make."

Germany would also prepare for a Gaza reconstruction conference in coordination with regional partners, Britain and France, he said. "No further expulsions from the Gaza Strip must occur."

German officials say their approach to Israel is governed by a special responsibility, known as the Staatsraison, arising from the legacy of the Nazi Holocaust.

They have long believed they can achieve more through diplomatic back channels than public statements. But Merz has come under growing pressure in recent weeks, including from within his own coalition, to take a firmer stance on Israel, and faced broad criticism for failing to join a statement last week by dozens of Western nations condemning the "inhumane killing" of Palestinians.