Is latest Ethiopian proposal on Nile dam talks a play for time?

Ethiopia has called for a meeting of the African Union in a bid to break the stalemate in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam with Cairo and Khartoum, something that is viewed by Cairo as a maneuver by Addis Ababa to play for time until the completion of the second filling stage of the dam.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly, his Sudanese counterpart, Abdalla Hamdok, and other officials meet in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on March 11, 2021. Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have been locked for almost a decade in inconclusive talks over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly, his Sudanese counterpart, Abdalla Hamdok, and other officials meet in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on March 11, 2021. Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have been locked for almost a decade in inconclusive talks over the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile. - SELMAN ELOTEFY/AFP via Getty Images
AhmedGomaa1.jpeg
Ahmed Gomaa
@AhmedGomaa252

CAIRO — Ethiopia has proposed holding a meeting of the African Union Assembly in a bid to end the deadlock over the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) trilateral talks between Addis Ababa, Cairo and Khartoum, which have reached a dead end.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an April 21 statement, “[Ethiopia] still believes that the trilateral negotiations within the framework of [mediations] led by the African Union (AU) is the best way to achieve a win-win outcome for all.”

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