El Sisi prioritizes GERD in talks with Blinken: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi asked for US help with Ethiopia in a bid to reach a legally binding agreement on the disputed GERD, AFP reported. “This is a very vital and existential matter to us. And we thank the United States for its support and its attention,” El Sisi told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a meeting on the sidelines of the US-Africa summit in Washington. Blinken had already met with Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed a day earlier. “Reaching a legally binding agreement can achieve something good in accordance with international standards and norms. We are not asking for anything other than that,” he said. “We need your support on this matter.”

REMEMBER- Talks between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan over filling and operating the dam have been at a standstill for a year, when Ethiopia unilaterally embarked on the second filling of the dam’s reservoir and Egypt and Sudan pulled out of the African Union-led negotiations. Tensions heightened further when Ethiopia completed its third filling of the dam in August.

The US doesn’t appear to be about to take Egypt’s side in the dispute, with Blinken yesterday stressing the need for a diplomatic agreement that would protect the interests “of all parties,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

Also from the meeting: Blinken “recognized Egypt’s recent releases of political detainees and encouraged further progress to advance human rights,” Price said. A readout from Ittihadiya said the two also discussed developing infrastructure in Africa.