Ambassador Badr Abdel Atty, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, said Egypt's position on the Renaissance Dam issue is very clear, pointing out that Cairo is willing to negotiate seriously with Ethiopia and hold a dialogue that reflects good intentions to reach practical solutions.
He said at a news conference on Thursday that Egypt does not oppose the right of Ethiopia or any other African country to develop. “But this should achieve gains for all parties, not harm our interests,” he added.
Earlier Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Dina Mufti expressed the Ethiopian government's willingness to discuss the Egyptian proposals on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project within the framework of three-party talks involving Sudan.
Walta Information and Public Relations Center quoted the spokesperson as saying: "If Egypt returned to the trilateral dialogue with constructive ideas, Ethiopia would be willing to listen and speak with respect regarding this matter."
Mufti added that she hoped Egypt would cooperate with Ethiopia to implement the recommendations of the international committee of experts assigned to solve the Renaissance Dam crisis.
Commenting on reports saying that Egyptian presidential candidate Abdel Fattah al-Sisi plans to visit Addis Ababa in the wake of the Egyptian presidential election, the ambassador said: "The Egyptian side has not yet submitted any requests relating to this matter. If a formal request is made by the Egyptian side, it will be studied appropriately."
The Ethiopian media center pointed out that Fekahmed Negash, the director for boundary and trans-boundary rivers at the Ethiopian Ministry of Water and Energy, had recently stated that diplomats from the US and the EU are being shuttled between Ethiopia and Egypt, hoping to persuade the two countries to resume tripartite talks.
Relations between Cairo and Addis Ababa were strained as the latter insists to continue constructing the Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. Egypt fears the project would affect its share of the Nile River water.
Edited translation from MENA
