Egypt has accepted an invitation by the US administration to hold a tripartite meeting of foreign ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in Washington on the Renaissance Dam, which is being built by Addis Ababa on the Nile. This comes at a time when Moscow has expressed its readiness to mediate between Cairo and Addis Ababa.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Tuesday that "Egypt has received an invitation from the US administration, in its keenness to break the stalemate surrounding the negotiations of the Renaissance Dam, for the meeting of the foreign ministers of the three countries Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in Washington, an invitation that Egypt accepted immediately," The statement did not specify the date of the meeting.
`` If they ask us, we are always ready, we have excellent relations with Addis Ababa and Cairo, '' said Mikhail Bogdanov, the envoy of the Russian president for the Middle East and North Africa.
"Of course we have discussed this issue more than once. If our mediation is required, we are always ready," Bogdanov said.
Ethiopia looms war
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abe Ahmed said yesterday that his country is ready to fight a war to defend the Renaissance Dam if forced to do so, but added that negotiations alone are the way to resolve the dispute.
Egypt responded by expressing shock and deep concern after Abi Ahmed vowed that his country would "mobilize millions" if it had to.
She added that Egypt did not address this issue at any time only through reliance on negotiating frameworks in accordance with the principles of international law and international legitimacy and the principles of justice and equity, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Sunday that he had agreed with the Ethiopian prime minister to meet in Russia on the sidelines of the Russian-African summit, which began Wednesday in Sochi to discuss the Renaissance Dam.
Egypt looking for a broker
Talks between Egypt and Ethiopia collapsed last week on the $ 4 billion project, the largest of its kind in Africa, and 70 percent of its construction has been completed.
As a result of the stalled negotiations, Egypt proposed that the three countries agree on the participation of an international party that would mediate the agreement and close the views, which Ethiopia rejects.
"Some say things about the use of force (by Egypt), it should be emphasized that no force can prevent Ethiopia from building a dam," he said.
Cairo fears a possible negative impact of the dam on the flow of its annual share of the Nile's 55 billion cubic meters of water, while Sudan gets 18.5 billion.
Ethiopia says it aims to build the Grand Renaissance Dam to secure 6,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power, not to store water or harm the downstream countries.