CAIRO — During his recent African tour, which included stops in four Nile Basin countries, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov overlooked the Nile water dispute and the crisis over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Instead, his statements focused on portraying his country as a respectable friend for African countries, as opposed to Western countries that still deal with the continent with a colonial mentality.

Although Cairo has always made sure to include the GERD issue in its international talks and meetings in the past, it seems the issue was left out from official statements during Lavrov’s visit to the Egyptian capital on July 24, in his first trip to Africa since the Russian war on Ukraine began in late February. 

The official readouts issued following Lavrov's meetings with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry did not refer to the GERD crisis. Such statements focused instead on bilateral cooperation projects, namely the Dabaa nuclear power plant project and the Russian industrial zone in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

Lavrov’s visit to Egypt and later to Ethiopia coincided with the third filling process of the GERD reservoir.