Egypt, Ethiopia discuss River Nile water-sharing at Russian conference

Both Egypt and Ethiopia are working to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict over water-sharing as construction of the Renaissance Dam on the River Nile nears completion. The leaders of both countries were due to discuss their differences Thursday at an African summit in the Russian resort town of Sochi.

Water flows over the two-thirds completed Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile downstream in Ethiopia. Fears have arisen in both Egypt and Sudan that the process of filling the reservoir behind the dam will severely curtail water supplies, prompting a flurry of bellicose rhetoric and intense diplomatic activity.

Recent comments by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed that he could “muster an army of a million men to defend the dam,” if it were threatened, prompted an angry reaction from Egyptian officials. But Ahmed, who recently won the Nobel peace prize, emphasized that diplomacy is his preferred course of action.

He says that if any one of those involved in the talks fails [in forging a diplomatic solution], it will be a failure for all.

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