New round of talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over filling and operation of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Blue Nile River floundered, and Ethiopia lauded completion of first round of filling. Following resumption of tripartite negotiations under African Union (AU) auspices 3 July, talks faltered 13 July as Ethiopia refused to agree to legally-binding dispute-resolution mechanism; Ethiopian govt next day pledged to pursue negotiations but said demands from downstream nations were thwarting chances of reaching agreement. Following AU Bureau-led extraordinary meeting on GERD negotiations 21 July, Ethiopian PM Abiy same day said Addis Ababa had reached “major common understanding with Sudan and Egypt”; Cairo said all three had agreed to prioritise development of binding legal agreement for filling and operating GERD. Abiy same day said Ethiopia had achieved its first-year target for filling reservoir thanks to heavy rainy season, prompting Egypt and Sudan to immediately condemn “unilateral” move. After AU 24 July called on parties to finalise binding agreement on filling and operation of dam, new round of negotiations started 27 July. Sudan next day requested talks to be postponed until 3 Aug to conduct internal consultations.

Talks between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan over filling and operation of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Blue Nile river resumed but soon faltered. Following tripartite commitment in May to revive talks after months-long hiatus, Egyptian, Ethiopian and Sudanese water ministers 9 June began new round of negotiations. Talks however broke down 17 June over lack of consensus on mechanism for resolving disputes and minimum downstream flows in cases of drought, as well as legal status of final agreement. Sudan immediately suggested negotiations be pursued at heads-of-state level to break deadlock, for which Egypt next day blamed Ethiopia. Ethiopia 19 June reiterated it would start filling GERD’s reservoir in July with or without agreement, prompting Egypt same day and Sudan few days later to call on UN Security Council (UNSC) to intervene. Egyptian President Sisi 20 June reiterated commitment to using diplomacy to resolve crisis; Sudan next day warned against escalation, urging further negotiations. FMs of Arab League member states 23 June warned water security of Egypt and Sudan is “integral part of Arab national security”, urged Ethiopia to refrain from filling dam’s reservoir before reaching agreement. Following online meeting convened by African Union 26 June, all three countries agreed to return to talks with view to reaching agreement within two weeks, with Addis Ababa holding off on filling reservoir until agreement is reached; however Ethiopian PM Abiy next day said country would “start filling GERD within next two weeks”. At UNSC meeting 29 June, Cairo said GERD posed existential threat to Egypt, warned of conflict if UN fails to intervene.

After U.S.-facilitated talks broke down in Feb, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt took steps to revive negotiations over filling and operation of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Blue Nile river, triggering hopes of de-escalation in coming weeks. In letter to UN Security Council early May, Egypt’s govt said Ethiopia’s plan to start filling GERD’s reservoir in July with or without agreement “poses a serious threat to the region’s peace and security” and stressed need for comprehensive agreement between three countries. Khartoum 12 May reiterated refusal to sign “partial agreement” for first phase of dam’s filling proposed by Addis Ababa. In video conference 21 May, Ethiopia’s PM Abiy and Sudan’s PM Hamdok agreed to resume tripartite negotiations among water ministers; Cairo immediately welcomed move. Sudan’s water minister 25 May held separate meetings with Egyptian and Ethiopian counterparts to discuss arrangements for resumption of negotiations.