Egypt and Sudan have publicly welcomed an offer by the U.S. President Donald Trump to restart mediation talks with Ethiopia aimed at resolving the long-running dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Nile River. Both downstream countries, whose economies and livelihoods depend heavily on Nile waters, are seeking a legally binding agreement on how the dam’s reservoir will be filled and operated to protect their water security. Trump’s offer, made in a letter to Egyptian leaders, signals Washington’s intent to bring the three nations back to the negotiating table after previous mediation efforts including U.S.-led talks that collapsed in 2020 failed to secure consensus. Cairo and Khartoum have argued that Ethiopia’s unilateral actions on the dam could significantly reduce the Nile’s flow and negatively impact agriculture and hydropower sectors in their countries, and have pressed for binding terms on replenishment and future dispute mechanisms. Ethiopia, for its part, maintains that GERD is critical to its development and has resisted terms that would limit its control, advocating instead for cooperative guidelines. The renewed mediation push comes amid ongoing tensions over water sharing, with Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia still at odds over technical, operational and legal frameworks surrounding the $5 billion hydroelectric project.
