A new round of Renaissance Dam negotiations begins in Addis Ababa

A second round of new negotiations regarding the Renaissance Dam began in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Saturday. The new tour of the dam comes after a freeze that lasted more than two years, specifically since April 2021, following the failure of an African Union initiative to bring the views of the three countries closer together.

A second round of new negotiations regarding the Renaissance Dam began in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Saturday.

This came in a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation, which is responsible for the technical aspect of the Ethiopian Dam negotiations, less than a month after the launch of new negotiations in Cairo on August 27 and 28 last year.

The Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation reported, in the same statement, the launch of a new round of Renaissance Dam negotiations this morning in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, in the presence of the relevant ministers from Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia and negotiating delegations from the three countries.

The statement indicated that the new rounds of negotiations come “based on the agreement of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan to accelerate the completion of the agreement on the rules for filling and operating the Renaissance Dam within 4 months, after the meeting of the leaderships of Egypt and Ethiopia on July 13 last year.”

On July 13, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed agreed to begin “urgent” negotiations regarding the rules for filling and operating the dam, ending within four months.

In his speech at the Addis Ababa meeting, Egyptian Minister of Irrigation Hani Sweilem said, “Egypt continues to deal with the negotiations as it has always done, with the necessary seriousness and good intentions in order to reach a fair and balanced agreement.”

Sweilem reiterated Cairo’s rejection of Ethiopia’s continuation of the process of filling the Renaissance Dam, noting that the continuation of such unilateral actions in violation of international law casts an unpositive shadow over the current negotiating process and threatens to undermine it.

Sweilem stressed the importance of mobilizing efforts to be able to reach the required agreement within the specified time period, especially taking into account the existence of many technical and legal solutions that allow concluding a binding legal agreement on the rules for filling and operating the Renaissance Dam that takes into account the interests of the three countries.

On September 10, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the success of filling the fourth round of the Renaissance Dam, while the Egyptian Foreign Ministry considered this announcement a new violation by Addis Ababa and a burden on the recently resumed negotiations between them.

The new negotiations for the dam come after a freeze that lasted more than two years, specifically since April 2021, following the failure of an African Union initiative to bring the views of the three countries closer together.

Cairo and Khartoum are committed to first reaching a binding agreement with Addis Ababa regarding filling and operating the dam, to ensure the continued flow of their water shares from the Nile River, while Ethiopia refuses and confirms that it does not aim to harm the two countries downstream of the Nile, Egypt and Sudan.

Sudanese official : We have Ukrainian experts in the army to train on drones that will destroy the rapid support supported by “Wagner” 

London - An advisor to the Sudanese Ministry of Defense revealed that Ukraine shares experts and trainers in the field of drones with the Sudanese army, and does not have forces fighting alongside the army, as the American CNN investigation reported a few days ago.

Al Jazeera Net quoted the advisor, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to make a statement, as saying that military experts from Ukraine trained the operators of the drones that Sudan recently purchased from Turkey and Ukraine.

 He added that his country has military protocols and agreements with several countries that allow it military cooperation and the development of defense military industries in Sudan.

 The Sudanese official explained that his country purchased various models of drones from Turkey before the outbreak of clashes between the army and the Rapid Support Forces and after they broke out in mid-April to strengthen its air forces. Ukrainian experts sent by Ankara trained Sudanese crews to use the drones according to the agreement between the two countries.

The Sudanese official explained that his country bought marches from Türkiye. Ukrainian experts sent by Ankara trained Sudanese crews to use the marches according to the agreement between the two countries.

 He added that the other drone, which recently entered service, is an FVP model called the destructive “Fly,” and Ukrainian experts participated in training Sudanese crews to use it.

 He said that it is a small-sized plane with a range of 10 kilometers, a speed between 100 and 140 kilometers, and its price is one thousand dollars. It has the ability to target tanks, self-propelled guns, and mobile combat vehicles. It can also be used for reconnaissance, directing artillery fire, and entering trenches and buildings.

 He stressed that the Ukrainian experts do not participate in the use and operation of the marches, but rather their role ends with training the Sudanese crews, “who are now qualified and have the ability to operate them efficiently.”

He said that these planes inflicted heavy losses on the ranks of the Rapid Support, and destroyed their weapons, equipment, and combat vehicles that they had obtained with the support of the Russian “Wagner” group and other regional powers (in a clear reference to the UAE), and they reached Sudan via Libya, Central Africa, and Chad, according to his description.

An investigation published by the American CNN network revealed that Ukrainian special forces likely carried out a series of attacks using drones, in addition to a ground operation, against the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, which is supported by the Russian Wagner Group.

The network said that it obtained video clips revealing that attacks carried out against the Rapid Support Forces bore the fingerprints of the Ukrainian army. Two commercially available drones widely used by Ukrainians were used in at least eight raids against the RSF, and videos showed Ukrainian words on the control devices of the drones targeting the RSF.

A Ukrainian military source told the network that this was the work of a foreign army.

When asked whether they would say unequivocally that Kiev was behind the attacks, the source said only that “Ukrainian special forces are most likely responsible,” which would constitute a dramatic expansion of Kiev’s battlefield against Moscow.

CNN quoted experts as saying that the military tactics used in these attacks, most notably the direct and rapid attack of drones on their targets, are unfamiliar in Sudan and Africa in general.

It also quoted a Ukrainian military source - whose identity was not revealed - as saying that these attacks were not the work of the Sudanese army, suggesting that Ukrainian special forces were behind these attacks.

According to the investigation, these attacks mean, if Ukraine is proven responsible for them, that the Russian-Ukrainian battles have begun to move beyond their limited geographical space to other arenas and distant countries.

CNN said that the secret strikes launched by Ukraine in Sudan constitute a major and provocative expansion of its war with Russia.

The network indicates that its investigation identified 7 locations targeted by the aforementioned strikes in Omdurman (the Rapid Support stronghold), and also determined the geographical location of the footage of the night raid on this city by identifying the buildings that appear in the images.

According to what was reported in the investigation, the drones used by the Ukrainian forces have the ability to fly a maximum of 30 kilometers, fly for 45 minutes, and photograph at a range of up to 15 kilometers, which means that those who operate these drones are located inside Sudan and perhaps near the city. targeted by strikes.

The word “stop” appeared in Ukrainian and English in the video that shows the screen of the drone’s control unit, and the image of the person operating the drone remotely can also be seen in the reflection of the image of the control unit, who appears to be a foreigner, but was wearing a mask that prevents him from being identified.

Ukraine has not officially claimed responsibility for the attacks against the Rapid Support (documented in video footage), some of which have been circulated on social media since last Thursday.

He said that these planes inflicted heavy losses on the ranks of the Rapid Support, and destroyed their weapons, equipment, and combat vehicles that they obtained with the support of the Russian “Wagner” group and other regional powers (referring to the UAE).

CNN quoted a senior Sudanese military source as saying that he had no knowledge of any Ukrainian operation in the country, expressing his belief that the information in this regard was incorrect.

She said that many American officials were not aware of the attacks mentioned in the investigation, and expressed their surprise at the suggestion that Ukrainian forces might be responsible for the air strikes and ground operation mentioned in Sudan.

After the report was published, on Wednesday, the Rapid Support Forces denied, in a statement, what the American network reported that its forces were attacked by Ukrainian marches near the capital, Khartoum.

For its part, in the first comment by the Sudanese army, Al Jazeera reported, quoting a senior Sudanese military source, saying that the Sudanese Armed Forces are the official state army, which gives them legitimacy to initiate military cooperation relations with any country in the world.

The source added that the Sudanese army is sufficient in terms of armament and equipment through the country's defense industries, which it has significantly developed over the past two decades.

The same source indicated that the Russian company Wagner has a close relationship with the Rapid Support Forces, as it trained these rebel forces.

He continued, "The rebel Hemedti, in his usual way of making deals behind the government's back, has increasingly developed his relations with Wagner over the past years."