United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed the importance of resuming dialogue on the Renaissance Dam in the spirit of consensus, and renewed the United Nations' support for the mediation efforts of the African Union in this regard.

This came during his meeting with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The two sides also discussed the situation in Tigray, where Guterres renewed the call for steps towards peace, and stressed the need to facilitate humanitarian access.

Egypt and Sudan have exchanged accusations with Ethiopia of being responsible for the failure of negotiations on the dam sponsored by the African Union for months, within a negotiating process that began about 10 years ago due to differences over its operation and filling.

round of negotiations

On April 6, a round of negotiations ended in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, without progress, according to statements by Khartoum and Cairo.

About a week ago, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a presidential statement calling on the three countries to resume negotiations led by the African Union in order to reach a binding agreement.

Addis Ababa says that it does not aim to harm the interests of the downstream states of the Nile (Egypt and Sudan), but rather to generate electricity from the dam for development purposes, while Cairo and Khartoum call for the conclusion of a legally binding tripartite agreement to preserve their water facilities and the continued flow of their shares of the Nile water.