Friday, January 17, 2020

Donald Trump Met Foreign Affairs Ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan

Donald Trump met Foreign Ministers of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan for a second time in less than three months. Egyptian president, Sisi, expressed optimism following phone conversation with Trump in November 2019.

Borkena
By Staff Writer
January 15, 2020

U.S President Donald Trump met with Foreign Affairs Ministers and Water Ministers of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan on Wednesday, Ethiopian Ambassador to the United States, Fitusm Arega disclosed on his twitter page.

He met them on the sidelines of the ongoing Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam the details of which is undisclosed at this writing. No details emerged so far regarding what Trump had to say during the meeting. This is for the second time for Trump to meet them in less than two months.

In November 2019, he phoned Egyptian President President Abdel Fatah al Sisi  regarding the Dam Talk which the latter appreciated very much.

Following the phone conversation, Egypt Today cited Egyptian president as saying :

“As usual, President Donald Trump proved he is a man of a unique type who has the power to face and deal with crises and finds decisive solutions for them. I renew both my personal gratitude and Egypt’s appreciation for the efforts he exerts to have the tripartite negotiations between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia on GERD held under his auspices, I assert my full trust in this mediation that could realize a consensual resolution that considers the rights of all parts involved as per the principles of the International law and human Justice,”

The last meeting between the three countries regarding the operation and filling of the Ethiopian Dam in Addis Ababa did not bring about agreement as Egypt came up with what Ethiopia sees as an aggressive proposal to fill the dam in 12 to 21 years of time. 

Spokesperson of Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday that it is difficult to predict the outcome of the talk between the three countries.

In 2015, the three countries have signed declaration principles agreement. Based on that agreement, the negotiating parties agreed to have a mediator, if they wish so, in the event of failure to reach an agreement. And the countries have now entered that phase – dialogue through a mediator.

At this point, the World Bank and the United States of America are acting as mediators in the meeting following the disagreement in the final round of talks in Addis Ababa on January 9, 2020.  

No comments: