Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia kick off GERD talks in Khartoum: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty, and General Intelligence chief Abbas Kamel arrived in Khartoum yesterday to begin tripartite talks with Sudan and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to the Foreign Ministry. Negotiations on the dam had reached a gridlock last year, but the three countries agreed in January to continue looking for a solution.

There are mixed expectations on how the talks will play out. Diplomatic sources speaking to Al Shorouk believe the negotiations will ultimately go in Egypt’s favor, as the three countries will focus on coming to an agreement over the results of the environmental impact studies — which concluded the dam would negatively impact Egypt’s Nile water supply. According to the Declaration of Principles signed in 2015, the three countries must reach consensus over the studies before Ethiopia can fill up the dam’s reservoirs.

Nonetheless, Egypt will likely be forced to make compromises in the negotiations, according to the Harvard Political Review. “Egypt should fund the construction of transmission lines, while Ethiopia reduces the rate at which the dam fills.” The report suggests that this would go a long way to resolving one of the pressing issues with the construction of the dam, that is synchronizing the operation of Aswan High Dam with that of GERD so as to not cause as much harm to Egypt. The report does not see a conflict between the countries as likely.