The latest pressure from the United States toward Ethiopia to sign an agreement on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) places the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) at a critical juncture.

The United States, which has been playing a mediator role in the GERD negotiations, inferred that Ethiopia should hold back on starting to fill the Dam before inking an agreement with Egypt and Sudan. With its "observer" status, the United States has facilitated the preparation of an agreement on the filling and operation of the Dam. The document was prepared with the technical input of the World Bank, which also joined the negotiation as an observer.

After having two rounds of negotiations in Washington, D.C., the latest meeting was called mid-last week with a plan that the three countries conclude the talk and ink the agreement dubbed the "Guidelines and Rules on the First Filling & Annual Operation of the GERD."

However, Ethiopia, which plans to start filling the Dam in July and believes that water filling is part of the construction, did not attend the meeting, requesting a postponement and stating that the country needs more time for public consultation. The meeting proceeded in Washington with the presence of the ministers of Foreign Affairs and the ministers of Water Resources of Egypt and Sudan.

The meeting was followed with a statement from the United States Department of Treasury that stated that the water filling should not take place without an agreement.

Ethiopia should not start final testing and water filling in order not to cause significant harm to the downstream countries, according to the statement from Steven T. Mnuchin, Treasury Secretary.

Gedu Andargachew, foreign affairs minister, described the United States' statement as "unacceptable and partisan".

The statement put Prime Minister Abiy, who is currently receiving massive economic support and aid from the West, in a high-pressure situation. He has promised his voters that he would show solidarity and represent their interests in supporting the operation of the Dam, which has reached 70pc completion.

The statement also faced intense backlash from senior officials in the administration, opposition party leaders and activists.

"This is a nation that has jealously guarded its sovereignty for centuries," tweeted Abebe Abebayehu, commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission. "Neo-colonialists beware!!!"

Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have been in conflict over water rights since the start of negotiations several years ago. The early stages of the disagreement resulted in the signing of the Declaration of Principles (DoP) in 2015.

Following the DoP agreement, the water ministers of the three countries jumped into technical meetings, which have been in continuous limbo ever since. The technical meeting was even suspended after the meeting that was held last October in Khartoum, Sudan. During the session, Ethiopia refused to sign onto the minutes after Egypt's proposal for the participation of a third party at the negotiations.

However, negotiations were reinstated in November after Prime Minister Abiy and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met in Sochi, Russia, at the Russia Africa Business Summit. During the meeting, Ethiopia backed off from its firm stand on the non-involvement of a third party, which many experts opposed, saying that Ethiopia had conceded to Egypt's position.

The technical meeting involving observers resumed with the presence of foreign affairs and water ministers of the three parties in Washington, D.C. During the meeting, the three countries agreed to hold four technical meetings between the water ministers and planned to complete the agreement by mid-January 2020.