Trump Expressed to Sisi Personal Keenness on GERD Talks: Rady

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and his U.S. counterpart President Donald Trump tackled on Monday the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and a number of bilateral issues and regional and international topics of mutual interest. 

“In a phone call, President Sisi lauded Trump’s efforts to combat terrorism,” said Presidential Spokesperson Ambassador Bassam Rady.

Rady added that Sisi expressed his gratitude for Trump’s willing to host and sponsor the tripartite talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). 

Foreign ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia are due to meet on November 6 in Washington DC. 

“President Trump reaffirmed his personal interest in the success of the upcoming talks,” Rady noted. “The U.S. president will receive the three foreign ministers in the Oval Office at the White House…This reflects Trump’s keenness to achieve positive outcomes and fair results that preserve rights of all parties.”

Shoukry in Washington for GERD Talks

Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry traveled to Washington Sunday for US-mediated talks with Ethiopia and Sudan over the GERD, which Ethiopia is building on a tributary of the Nile River, raising concerns over water security in Egypt.

The meeting comes upon the invitation of the US administration last month after Egypt called on the White House to mediate talks with Ethiopia after talks reached a deadlock a few weeks ago.

Last week, Shoukry said that Egypt is looking to sign a binding legal agreement with Ethiopia to end the dispute over the GERD and to protect Egypt’s water rights in the Nile river.

Earlier in October, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that the GERD’s technical committee will convene and put forward mechanism for operating the dam. This announcement followed a meeting on the side-lines of the first Russia-Africa forum held in the city of Sochi on 23-24 October.

Egypt’s Sisi brought the issue to the U.N. during his speech at the General Assembly in New York last month.