Sudan + Ethiopia align on GERD? Sudan and Ethiopia are “aligned and in agreement” over Addis Ababa’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah Al Burhan said Friday following talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Khartoum, according to a statement picked by AFP. “Burhan emphasized… that Sudan and Ethiopia are aligned and in agreement on all issues regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD),” according to the country’s ruling sovereignty council, which Al Burhan chairs.

The GERD has been a constant source of tension between Ethiopia and Egypt, which views the dam as a threat to its water security. Talks between the three countries have been on ice for over a year after Ethiopia unilaterally began filling the dam without an agreement over when the reservoir will be filled or how it will be operated. Egypt has repeatedly tried to get the UN Security Council to intervene in the dispute but global powers have insisted that the three countries must continue to negotiate a settlement under the current format, led by the African Union.