The British Middle East Eye website said that the Renaissance Dam, which Ethiopia is about to complete construction and operation, represents - according to observers close to the project - a "very important shift in the balance of power" in the Nile Basin.
In a news report published today, Sunday, the website said that the Egyptian authorities - despite all the harsh rhetoric in their statements - realize that the project of building the Renaissance Dam will one day become "a fait accompli".
The site mentioned the latest developments in this file, noting that Egypt accused Ethiopia yesterday of wanting to make it a prisoner of negotiations on the giant dam that would threaten Egypt's share in the waters of the Nile River, as it has become a source of tension in the Nile Basin region since Ethiopia embarked on Its construction almost a decade ago.
Egypt announced that the tripartite talks with Ethiopia and Sudan over the controversial giant dam on the course of the Blue Nile River had reached a dead end because of the "intransigence" of Addis Ababa.
On Saturday, a joint trilateral meeting that included Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia concluded that Khartoum was tasked with preparing a new draft "consensus" document for negotiations on the Renaissance Dam, based on the comments of the three countries.
While Ethiopia considers the dam necessary for it in generating electricity and achieving development, Egypt and Sudan see it as a threat to their water resources.
Egyptian pessimism
The news website quoted the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed El Sebaei, in a statement posted on the ministry's Facebook page, that he was not optimistic about "any breakthrough or progress in the ongoing negotiations on the dam."
Sibai attributed this to "the intransigence of Ethiopia, which was evident during the meetings that are taking place between the ministers of water resources in Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia."
The harsh statement came after days of negotiations on the project, amid growing insistence to reach an agreement before Ethiopia began filling the dam reservoir due in July.
Al-Sibai added that "the Ethiopian position is based on forcing Egypt and Sudan to either sign a document that makes them prisoners of Ethiopia's will, or to accept that Ethiopia takes unilateral measures, such as starting to fill the Renaissance Dam without an agreement with my downstream country."
The talks between the ministers of irrigation and water resources in the three Nile Basin countries, in the presence of observers from the United States, the European Union and South Africa, resumed on Tuesday after a four-month hiatus.
After several failed rounds of negotiation, the United States and the World Bank - at the request of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi - sponsored his counterpart and US ally Donald Trump - talks that began in November 2019, with the goal of reaching a comprehensive agreement on the rules for filling and operating the dam.
According to Middle East Eye, those talks faltered after the US Treasury urged Ethiopia to sign an agreement supported by Egypt, calling it "fair and balanced."
Ethiopia has rejected US attempts to resolve the dispute over the Renaissance Dam, accusing it of being "non-diplomatic" and favoring one party over another, but has pledged to continue the ongoing talks.
In his report, the British news site believes that Cairo - despite all the harsh rhetoric in its statements - realizes that the project of building the Renaissance Dam will one day become a "fait accompli" soon.
The report quoted observers "close to the project" that the dam represents a "very important shift in the balance of power" in the Nile Basin.