The last trilateral negotiation session between Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt over the Renaissance Dam ended, amid several differences, at a time when the US National Security Council called on the Ethiopian government to reach a just settlement over the dam.
Regarding the latest developments of the negotiation session, the Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas said that there are differences regarding the ongoing operation of the Renaissance Dam and the details of joint work between the three countries on the extent of the binding agreement.
Abbas added that the differences focus on the mechanism for settling disputes, even if the agreement is related to the Renaissance Dam in itself or includes water sharing.
He said that technical issues were agreed upon by approximately 59% in negotiations related to the Renaissance Dam.
Meanwhile, the US National Security Council called on the Ethiopian government to reach a just settlement of the Renaissance Dam.
The council stated in a tweet that 275 million people in eastern Africa are counting on Ethiopia to show strong leadership, which means a fair deal.
He added that the technical problems related to the dam have been solved, and it is time to reach an agreement before starting the process of filling the dam with the waters of the Nile River.
Significant progress
Earlier today, an informed source and participant in the meetings of the island talked about making what he called "limited" progress in terms of consensus on the flow of water in the successive drought years, indicating that Ethiopia had reluctantly made some concessions.
According to the same source, most of the differences in the first filling of Lake Al-Nahda Dam have been overcome, but the challenge is to transfer all of this into a binding agreement for everyone and long-term.
He added that if the negotiations recorded any progress, the negotiation sessions will be extended, and if not, the differences will be raised to the level of prime ministers in the three countries.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopian News Agency said that Addis Ababa welcomed Hamidati, "who arrived in the capital on a surprise visit", where he was received by senior officials.
She noted that, during his visit, the duration of which was not specified - Hamidati will hold "discussions with senior Ethiopian officials on important issues between the two countries," without further details.
For its part, media reports stated that Hamidati will discuss with officials in Addis Ababa issues of common concern, on top of which are the borders and the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Obstructing negotiations
On Tuesday, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Guido Andargasho accused Egypt of obstructing tripartite negotiations on the Renaissance Dam, saying that the Egyptian stubbornness has become a stumbling block in the negotiations, calling on the international community to recognize this fact and pressure Cairo.
The Ethiopian minister stressed that his country would not participate in the negotiations if Egypt boycotted it, adding that it rejects the fair use of the Nile, and that its insistence on using water on its own is unacceptable.
And Andragasho added that Egypt deals in two ways, as it participates in negotiations and resorts to the UN Security Council at the same time.
Egypt had said last Saturday that the tripartite talks with Ethiopia and Sudan over the Renaissance Dam on the Nile River had reached a wall because of the "intransigence" of Addis Ababa.
The massive dam - which Ethiopia began building about a decade ago - has turned into a source of tension between the Nile Basin countries, where Addis Ababa considers the dam a necessary need for it to achieve development and electric power generation, while Egypt and Sudan see it as a threat to their water resources.
Tripartite meetings that started a week ago between Cairo and Khartoum and Addis Ababa - via video technology - on the Renaissance Dam, continue, without reaching results on the stalled technical negotiations months ago.
Ethiopian rejection
And at the end of last February, Egypt signed the initials of the agreement to fill and operate the Renaissance Dam under the auspices of Washington and the participation of the World Bank, amid Ethiopian rejection and a Sudanese reservation, before Khartoum moved and resumed negotiations that stopped last March.
Cairo fears the potential negative impact of the dam on the flow of its annual share of the Nile River's water amounting to 55.5 billion cubic meters, while Sudan gets 18.5 billion.
Addis Ababa says that it is not intended to harm Egypt's interests, and that the aim of building the dam is primarily to generate electricity.
Ethiopia plans to start filling the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam by the rainy season in July.