Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt Plan To Hold Talks On Renaissance Dam In April - Ethiopian Diplomat

The next round of Ethiopia-Sudan-Egypt negotiations on the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is expected to be held in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), early in April, Ethiopian Ambassador to Russia Alemayehu Tegenu Aargau said in an interview with Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2021) The next round of Ethiopia-Sudan-Egypt negotiations on the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is expected to be held in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), early in April, Ethiopian Ambassador to Russia Alemayehu Tegenu Aargau said in an interview with Sputnik.

Since June 2020, the African Union has been facilitating the "ongoing trilateral negotiations to reach a win-win outcome", and providing a "viable platform," the diplomat recalled. Ethiopia "has no interest to invite any other parties" like the United States, the United Nations and European Union to mediate, the ambassador stressed.

"DRC [the current African Union chair] is planning to convene a face-to-face meeting in Kinshasa .

.. early next month," Aargau said.

The Ethiopian ambassador announced that the second filling of the dam will start when the rainy season begins.

"Now it is not the rainy season. The rainy season will come soon, in July, and the second filling will be conducted," Aargau added.

The dam has been under construction since 2012 and would become the largest one in Africa when completed. However, the project triggered disputes with Egypt and Sudan, as both countries fear the dam would undermine their water security. The latest round of trilateral negotiations was held in November, but the sides failed to agree on the further procedure for talks.