Abiy: My Comments about Going to War ‘Taken out of Context’

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi held a meeting on Thursday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the sidelines of the 1st Russian-African summit hosted in Sochi, Russia, presidency spokesman Bassam Rady said on Thursday.

During the meeting, the two leaders agreed on the immediate resumption of the Independent Technical Research Committee in a more open and positive manner, with a view to reaching a final vision on the rules of filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and overcoming any negative repercussions resulted from the media misunderstanding of the recent statements of the Ethiopian Prime Minister.

Abiy expressed his appreciation to Egypt’s leadership, people and government, pointing out that his recent statements over the GERD file have been taken out of the context.

He added that his statements included Ethiopia's commitment to the construction of the GERD without causing damage to the two downstream states.

Ahmed stressed that the Ethiopian government have no intention of harming the interests of the Egypt. He confirmed that stability of Egypt and Ethiopia represents an added value and strength for the whole African continent, expressing his commitment to adhere to the path of the negotiations until reaching a final agreement.

1st African-Russian summit

The first African-Russian summit kicked off, Wednesday in Sochi, Russia under the slogan of “Russia and Africa: Uncovering the Potential for Cooperation”.

The three-day summit is co-chaired by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

This is the first event of this level in the history of Russian-African relations.

The summit is attended by around 43 African leaders, and a number of major African regional organizations including; “African Union”, “East African Community”, “Economic Community of Central African states”, and “Arab Maghreb Union”.

On the 1st day, Egypt’s president held a series of meetings with African leaders including South Sudanese president Salva Kiir, Chadian President Idriss Deby and  Chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission Mr. Moussa Fakih.