Sudan calls for calm on the Renaissance Dam .. Ethiopian Foreign Minister for the island: Egypt escapes from negotiations and in the world documents refute its allegations

The Ethiopian Foreign Minister accused Egypt of escaping from negotiations, after its resort to the UN Security Council over the Renaissance Dam, which Addis Ababa plans to begin filling in next month, while Sudan called on the two countries to avoid escalation in light of the increasing tension between them as negotiations stalled.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Guido Andargashu said that the Egyptian complaint with the Security Council came within the framework of the policy of escaping from dialogue and negotiation.

Andaraghashu added that the Egyptian complaint has no effect, because Ethiopia has documents and evidence to refute the Egyptian allegations, he said.

He added that the mobilization of the Renaissance Dam scheduled for next July represents a stage agreed upon between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in 2015, noting that Egypt supports forces hostile to his country and opens the door to any effort that prevents it from building the dam and achieving development.

The Ethiopian Foreign Minister stressed that there is no Israeli funding for the Renaissance Dam, and that Egypt can stop it if it is correct for its strong relationship with Israel.

On Friday, Egypt announced that it had addressed a letter to the United Nations Security Council, in which it requested to intervene in the issue of the Renaissance Dam quickly, in light of what it described as the continuous intransigence of Ethiopia and its insistence on starting to unilaterally mobilize the dam, and stated that it aims, through this step, to resume negotiations for Reaching a fair agreement, not to impose sanctions on Addis Ababa.

In the letter, Egypt's delegate to the United Nations confirmed that his country referred this issue to the Security Council after it examined and exhausted every avenue for an amicable solution to this situation.

The speech considered that the failure of negotiations on the Renaissance Dam due to Ethiopia's consistent policy of evasiveness and obstruction, and warned that the mobilization and operation of a huge project such as the Renaissance Dam without an agreement constituted a threat to Egypt, and may have serious repercussions threatening international peace and security.

Later, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said that his country went to the Security Council due to its keenness to continue the diplomatic and political track until the end regarding the Renaissance Dam negotiations.

Cairo resorted to this step after previous statements by the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, in which he confirmed that his country would start to mobilize the reservoir of the Renaissance Dam next month, whether an agreement was reached or not. Addis Ababa had rejected the Egyptian accusations of intransigence, responded by accusing Cairo of stubbornness, and held it responsible for a possible failure of the negotiations.

Ethiopia plans to start filling the Renaissance Dam in this rainy season, and it coincides with next July, in exchange for an Egyptian-Sudanese refusal to fill in a unilateral decision without an agreement.

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Avoid escalation

In Khartoum, Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Yasser Abbas, commenting on Egypt's approach to the Security Council, said that his country does not want to go toward escalation, stressing that negotiation is the only option.

Abbas also stressed in statements to a limited number of journalists in Khartoum, the need for the three countries directly concerned with the issue of the Renaissance Dam, to sign an agreement before Addis Ababa begins filling the dam lake on the date set by the Ethiopian side, which is the first of next July.

The Sudanese minister said that signing a tripartite agreement is a prerequisite for Sudan to start filling the dam reservoir that is located on the Blue Nile River.

The negotiations between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan over the Renaissance Dam had resumed on the ninth of this month, and delegations from the three countries held meetings at the level of water and irrigation ministers and technicians, but they did not produce a result, and Sudan proposed to raise the outstanding issues to the heads of government of the three countries.

The new talks stopped last Wednesday, two weeks before the supposed date to start filling the dam reservoir, and Egypt fears that the mobilization process without an agreement will affect its share of water amounting to 55.5 billion cubic meters annually, knowing that it depends 90% on the Nile water, while Ethiopia confirms that it It is not intended to harm Egypt's interests, and that the purpose of building the dam is primarily to generate electricity.

It is noteworthy that Ethiopia refused at the end of last February to sign a draft agreement that was sponsored by Washington-sponsored talks. At that time, Egypt described the draft as fair and balanced, while Addis Ababa accused the American side of siding with certain parties, in reference to Egypt.

Construction work on the Renaissance Dam has advanced by more than 70%, and Ethiopia expects to complete the project - which cost nearly $ 5 billion - in 2021.