According to the notification, Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen made the statement during a meeting held in Addis Ababa with ambassadors from UN member States.

GERD is a development project and should not be considered by the Security Council, said Mekonnen, who is also a Minister of Foreign Affairs.

According to the text, Mekonnen also called on Egyptian and Sudanese authorities to ‘abandon the status quo and the so-called ‘historical right’ over the Nile River basin,’ in addition to encouraging them not to internationalize the matter.

Since its construction began in 2011, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has caused disagreements especially between Ethiopia and Egypt, and although talks along with Sudan to determine how to exploit it started in 2014, they remain unresolved.

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