The closing session of the technical and legal committees of the Renaissance Dam negotiations ended with the participation of the three countries Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia, and through the African Union and the presence of international experts and observers without announcing reaching an agreement.
In the Egyptian response, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that his country regrets the failure to reach an agreement.
He said that Egypt provided a lot of flexibility and understanding, but that the round of negotiations ended again without reaching an agreement.
Shoukry added to the Egyptian media that the Ethiopian side did not appear willing to reach a full agreement on the Renaissance Dam.
He also stressed that all state agencies continue to work with the same determination to defend Egypt's water interests, as he put it.
For its part, an African mini summit ; Sudanese Minister of Irrigation Yasser Abbas said at a press conference after the conclusion of the round of negotiations, that Sudan will submit its final report on the negotiations today, Tuesday, and includes Khartoum's position on the outstanding points, that a mini-African summit be held after a week to decide the next step on the issue of the dam.
Controversial points
Cairo rejected a proposal from Addis Ababa to postpone settlement of disputes until after signing an agreement to operate the dam.
Informed sources indicated that the controversial points regarding the dam are related to the operation and filling of the dam in the period of drought, prolonged drought, and lack of rain.
Ethiopia submitted a proposal to seize water at a cost of 74 billion cubic meters over a period of 7 years if it is rainy. As for whether it is drought or prolonged or little drought, it proposes to reserve water in stages so as not to harm the two downstream countries (Sudan and Egypt).
The same sources added that Cairo rejected the Ethiopian proposal, sticking to its share of water in the Nile, that is, 55 billion and 500 million cubic meters under the 1959 agreement between Egypt and Sudan.
Cairo also calls on Addis Ababa to recognize the three previous agreements for the distribution of water quotas in 1902, 1929 and 1959.
The latter rejected this because it was not a party to these agreements, and it adheres to filling and operating the dam in July, while Egypt and Sudan refuse to add Addis Ababa to this step before reaching an agreement.
Egypt fears affecting its annual share of the Nile's water, and demands an agreement on files, including the safety of the dam and the setting of rules for filling it in times of drought.
Local Ethiopian newspapers reported that the process of filling the Renaissance Dam reservoir had already started a week ago, while no official permit was issued by the Ethiopian government confirming or denying the news.