Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan announced Friday that they reached an agreement on the filling schedule of the Renaissance Dam and the mechanism for dealing with droughts, according to a joint statement issued by the three countries published by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The statement said that the agreement comes "after rounds of painstaking and arduous negotiations between the foreign ministers and water resources in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, under the auspices of the United States of America and the participation of the World Bank."
He added that the agreement includes a schedule that includes a plan to fill the Renaissance Dam in stages, as well as a mechanism that includes procedures related to dealing with droughts and protracted droughts and scarce years during filling and operation.
The statement pointed out that the ministers agreed on the importance of completing negotiations and reaching an agreement on the mechanism of operating the Renaissance Dam during the normal hydrological conditions, the coordination mechanism for monitoring and following up the implementation of the agreement, the exchange of data and information, and the mechanism for resolving disputes, as well as dealing with issues of the dam's safety and completing studies on its environmental and social impacts .
The statement pointed out that the ministers assigned the technical and legal committees to continue the meetings in Washington in order to finalize the agreement.
He pointed out that the foreign ministers and water resources of the three countries will meet in Washington on February 12 and 13, to approve the final version of the agreement, in preparation for signing it at the end of the same month.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry confirmed that it signed the agreement document prepared by the American side, while the Ethiopian Minister of Irrigation said that the documents that will be signed by the legal and technical team will be discussed next week, to complete a comprehensive document within 30 days.
A White House statement had earlier reported that President Donald Trump had spoken to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abe Ahmed, and Trump expressed optimism that an agreement on the Renaissance Dam was imminent, and that it would benefit all parties concerned.
Island sources said that Trump interfered with Egypt and Ethiopia to prevent the collapse of negotiations over the Renaissance Dam after it reached a dead end.
Cairo fears the potential negative impact of the dam on its annual flow of 55.5 billion cubic meters of Nile water, while Sudan gets 18.5 billion.
Addis Ababa asserts that it does not aim to harm Egypt's interests, and that the aim of building the dam is to generate electricity.