MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th May, 2020) Ethiopia stands ready to resume negotiations with neighbors over the construction and filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) notwithstanding the coronavirus pandemic and urges Egypt to return to the negotiation table, Ethiopian ambassador to Russia Alemayehu Tegenu told Sputnik.
Last week, prime ministers of Sudan and Ethiopia held a video conference, attended also by the irrigation ministers and chiefs of intelligence on both sides, during which they agreed to resume talks on the disputed dam.
"We have the pandemic now. However, since this issue is very important, Ethiopia is any time ready for negotiations ... I hope Egypt will also come back to participate in the negotiations. This is an African issue, and it must be solved with an African solution," Alemayehu Tegenu said.
The ambassador called upon Egypt to "come back to negotiations and find a solution at the negotiation table rather than bring the issue to other places."
According to the diplomat, the dam's construction is ongoing and Ethiopia will be ready to fill it in the coming July.
The Ethiopian-Sudanese talks came after Addis Ababa said it would not delay filling the dam. Shortly after the video conference, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry released a statement signaling the country's readiness to resume talks with an ultimate aim of finding an equitable solution.
Since 2011, Ethiopia has been building what would become Africa's largest hydroelectric power plant when completed. Many believe that when the GERD is launched, it will inevitably lead to water shortages in downstream-located Sudan and Egypt, something that Ethiopia has consistently denied.
The three Nile basin states have held over a dozen talks since the start of the construction, but disagreements persist.�
