Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed agreed on Thursday to finalize, within four months, an agreement on the filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam that Addis Ababa is building, which both Cairo and Khartoum fear its impact on them.

According to a joint statement issued by the Egyptian presidency, "the two leaders discussed ways to overcome the current deadlock in negotiations on the Grand Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia."

They agreed, according to the statement, "to initiate urgent negotiations to complete the agreement between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to fill the Renaissance Dam and the rules for its operation... within four months."

The meeting of the two leaders came on the sidelines of the meeting of the countries neighboring Sudan in an attempt to resolve the crisis in Sudan as a result of the power struggle between the army and the rapid support forces.

For his part, Mubarak Ardol, a former leader of one of the rebel groups in Sudan and considered close to the army, wrote on his Twitter account, "Despite our absence (Sudan), we fully support this bilateral statement regarding the Renaissance Dam."

"Sudan will surely join soon to make the agreement triangular, without external mediators," he added.

The chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, also praised the meeting of the two leaders and "their joint decision to strengthen bilateral relations, including the resumption of negotiations to resolve the problematic issues regarding the Great Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia for the benefit of their peoples. "

Since 2011, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have been negotiating to reach an agreement on filling and operating the Renaissance Dam, but long rounds of negotiations between the three countries have not yet yielded an agreement.

Although Egypt and Sudan have repeatedly urged Ethiopia to postpone its plans to fill the dam reservoir until a comprehensive agreement is reached, Addis Ababa announced, on June 22, its willingness to begin the fourth phase of filling the dam reservoir, which has a capacity of about 74 billion cubic meters of water.

In this context, according to Thursday's statement, "Ethiopia clarified its commitment, during the filling of the dam during the hydrological year 2023-2024, not to cause significant damage to Egypt and Sudan, so that the water needs of both countries can be met."

Egypt relies on the Nile River for 97 percent of its water needs.

Ethiopia officially launched, in February 2022, the production of electricity from the dam, which is considered one of the largest in Africa. Its production target has been revised from 5,000 to 6,500 megawatts, twice Ethiopia's current production, and it is expected to reach its full production capacity in 2024.