“We are working to find a solution suitable for all parties, especially on the technical side, as it is purely a technical matter that must be resolved in a technical way,” Boulos told Al Arabiya on Monday.
He described the dispute as “a matter of life and death” for Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, adding that the dam “is now a reality” following its completion and official inauguration. “A solution must be found within this reality,” he said.
“A solution must be found within this reality,” he said.
The $4 billion hydropower dam on the Blue Nile, with a reservoir capacity of 74 billion cubic metres, has been under construction since 2011. Ethiopia has refused to sign a legally binding agreement with downstream countries after more than a decade of talks.
Cairo and Khartoum say Addis Ababa’s unilateral filling and operation of the dam could sharply reduce water flows during droughts.
Ethiopia has filled the reservoir without an agreement, completing five filling stages between 2020 and 2024, deepening tensions with Egypt and Sudan.
Boulos said the US continues to encourage peaceful cooperation between Cairo and Addis Ababa, describing the two as “nations bound by historical ties that should not lead to conflict.”
He noted that he discussed the issue during recent visits to Ethiopia and Egypt and said communication between the US and Egyptian administrations remains ongoing.
Speaking about US President Donald Trump, Boulos said the GERD file remains “very important and strategic” to him.
“We know that during his first term, President Trump worked hard to reach a solution to this issue,” he said, recalling that a technical agreement was nearly finalised and ready to be signed in Washington, but certain circumstances prevented that from happening.
The US and the World Bank had mediated those talks between November 2019 and February 2020. Similar efforts by the African Union have since failed to yield results.
Asked whether Trump might again seek to mediate between Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Boulos replied: “God willing, we will see them together. We are working toward that goal.”
He said such a meeting could take place “within an African framework, perhaps on the sidelines of an African Union-related event,” adding that the US “would welcome, support, and assist” any initiative to resolve the crisis peacefully.
On Sunday, President El-Sisi warned that Egypt “will not stand idly” in the face of what he called Ethiopia’s “irresponsible approach” to the dam’s operation, vowing to take “all necessary measures” to defend the country’s water security.
Addressing the 8th Cairo Water Week, El-Sisi said Egypt’s reliance on diplomacy and international institutions, “foremost among them the United Nations (UN),” should not be mistaken for weakness but reflects “strength, maturity, and belief in dialogue and cooperation to safeguard the interests of all Nile Basin states.”
His remarks come as Egypt maintains its firm rejection of Ethiopia’s unilateral "reckless" management of the dam, which Cairo and Khartoum warn could endanger the lives of millions of people downstream.
In September, Egyptian and Sudanese water ministers Hani Sweilam and Ismat Qureshi warned that GERD poses risks to regional stability and violates international law, calling on Addis Ababa to reverse course.
In a joint statement, both governments cited concerns over structural safety, uncontrolled water releases, and poor drought management.
Egypt, which depends almost entirely on the Nile for its water, says it needs more than 90 billion cubic metres annually but receives only 55.5 billion under existing agreements. Per capita water availability is now less than 500 cubic metres a year — half the UN’s water poverty threshold — according to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry.
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