The Egyptian Foreign Ministry described as positive the outcome of a Washington meeting on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, stressing that it would “control the course” of the negotiations, which will be held under the auspices of the US administration and the World Bank.
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, after talks in Washington on Wednesday, hosted by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, decided to work for a comprehensive and sustainable agreement on the rules of filling and operation of the dam by January 15.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that the meetings had a positive outcome, which would control the course of negotiations and set a clear and specific timetable. He added that participants decided to hold four urgent meetings at the level of ministers of water resources, with the participation of representatives of the United States and the World Bank, to reach an agreement on filling and operating the Renaissance Dam by January.
Two meetings will also be held in Washington at the invitation of the US Treasury Secretary to assess progress in the negotiations.
In remarks on Thursday, Shoukry said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi highly valued US President Donald Trump’s sponsoring of these talks. He added that Washington was playing a “constructive and pivotal role that reflects the depth of the strategic relations between Egypt and the United States.”
In their joint statement, the foreign ministers affirmed “the importance of the Nile to the development of the peoples of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, the need for cross-border cooperation and their common interest in concluding an agreement.”
