In a June 11 letter addressed to the United Nations Security Council, Egypt denounced Ethiopia’s plan to move ahead with the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), without reaching a binding agreement with its neighboring downstream countries — Egypt and Sudan — on the process of filling and operating the dam.

Egypt noted that it regrettably finds it “necessary to, once again, inform the UN Security Council that negotiations on the GERD are at an impasse and that Ethiopia remains intent on imposing a fait accompli on Egypt and Sudan by continuing to impound the waters of the Blue Nile to fill the GERD reservoir.”

In this third letter since Egypt decided to resort to international parties to resolve the GERD crisis in 2020, Cairo stated, “The failure of negotiations on the GERD, the unilateral filling and operation of this dam, and its potential adverse effects will affect peace, security, and stability through the Nile Basin and the Horn of Africa.”

Addis Ababa plans to fill the GERD in the upcoming flood season in July and August, regardless of whether an agreement with the two downstream countries is reached. In 2020, Ethiopia unilaterally completed the first phase filling of the dam's reservoir with a capacity of 4.9 billion cubic meters, which angered Egypt and Sudan, which are currently working to avoid that same scenario this year.