Talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) were marred by disputes for the second consecutive day Wednesday.
In two separate statements, the irrigation ministries of Egypt and Ethiopia agreed that talks, which would last until June 13, “did not produce any tangible results.”
Cairo placed four conditions during the virtual meeting between the ministers of the three countries, including a call to Addis Ababa to declare it would take no “unilateral action” on filling the dam.
The talks were held in the presence of observers from the European Union, the US and South Africa.
Observers told Asharq Al-Awsat that the bumpy start of the negotiations and the insistence of Ethiopia not to heed the agreements reached in previous talks in Washington, are signs that there is no solution, and that the crisis is heading towards more escalation.
Egypt says the reference for discussions should be the discussions held in Washington during talks brokered by the US and the World Bank in February.
Egypt was the only country that initialed the document issued during the talks after the US failed to secure the signatures of Ethiopia and Sudan.
Ethiopia has planned to start filling the reservoir of the dam in July.
In a statement, the Sudanese irrigation ministry said that during Wednesday’s meetings the three countries expressed their viewpoints. The Egyptian delegation held to the February 21 document as the basis for negotiation, it said.
It added that the three countries would continue negotiations to work on a consensual solution.
Sudan has rejected a proposal by Ethiopia to sign a partial bilateral agreement for the initial filling of the dam.
Nasreddine Allam, former Egyptian Minister of Water Resources, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Egypt’s negotiators would not tolerate Ethiopia’s intransigence and its attempt to bring talks back to square one.
Hani Raslan, an expert on Sudan at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, hinted at the “failure of the talks.”
In a tweet, Raslan wrote that Ethiopia wants to destroy all what has been accomplished by insisting to start filling the dam next month.
