Ethiopia declares that there will be no breakthrough in the negotiations with Egypt on the Renaissance Dam

Ethiopian officials announced Friday that negotiations this week in Washington failed to resolve the long-running dispute with Egypt against the backdrop of the Renaissance Dam project on the Blue Nile.

The meeting, which lasted for two days, was the last round of talks facilitated by the US Treasury, which interfered in the file after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi requested the assistance of his American counterpart, Donald Trump, in the file.

Ethiopia notes that the dam, which is expected to be the largest source of hydropower in Africa, is extremely important to its economy. However, Egypt fears that the project will affect its supplies from the river, which provides 90% of the drinking water it needs.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to visit Ethiopia next week, while a senior US official said on Monday that Washington hopes the talks "are close to a solution."

The Ethiopian ambassador to the United States, Fitzum Arega, wrote on Twitter on Friday that this week's talks "ended without a final agreement."

In turn, the Ethiopian Water Minister, Celici Bekele, indicated on Twitter that progress has been made this week, but that "more work" is needed to reach an agreement by the end of the month, the current deadline.

Selici said that the Ethiopian Ministry of Water and Foreign Affairs "will hold national consultations within the next week to achieve consensus on the results and the way forward."

The official Ethiopian Fana Broadcasting Corporation said Friday that recent talks touched on sticking points, including filling a dam reservoir capable of absorbing 74 cubic meters of water.

Egypt fears that Ethiopia will fill the reservoir very quickly, which would reduce the flow of water to the estuary.

In a statement yesterday, the US Treasury confirmed that the ministers participating in this week's talks "continued their discussions on the remaining issues necessary to reach a final agreement" and "stressed the importance of cross-border cooperation."

"The United States, with technical support from the World Bank, has agreed to facilitate preparations for a final agreement that is being considered by ministers and leaders of countries to be finalized by the end of the month," said US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin.