July 15, 2020 (Khartoum) The Ethiopian Foreign Minister informed his Sudanese counterpart that the news reports on filling of the Renaissance Dam is “baseless”, Stressing that the Ethiopian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, did not make the statements that were attributed to him yesterday, Wednesday, regarding the start of filling the dam.
Addis Ababa’s clarifications to Khartoum come against the background of media circulation of satellite images, showing Ethiopia’s start to fill the Renaissance Dam with water before reaching an agreement on the filling and operating the Dam.
This came when the Director of the Neighboring Countries Department, at the Foreign Ministry, Ambassador, Babiker Al-Siddig Mohammed Al-Amin met, Thursday, at his office, the Ethiopian Charge D, Affaire in Khartoum who explained that the Ethiopian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation did not make any statement on the start of the process of filling the Renaissance Dam.
The Ethiopian diplomat underlined that the authorities in his country did not shut down the gates of the Ethiopian Dam and did not hold the water entering the dam because it’s the rainy season and the water gathered naturally in the dam lake.
He affirmed his country’s commitment to continue the AU- sponsored negotiations on the Renaissance Dam and the Declaration of Principles signed by Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt. Ambassador, Mohammed Al-Amin has renewed Sudan’s commitment to the AU-sponsored negotiations seeking a conciliatory solution accepted bythe three countries and rejecting any unilateral procedures concerning the safety of operating Rosseires Dam which neighboring the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.