Egypt announced the end of the fourth and final round of the Renaissance Dam negotiations between it, Sudan, and Ethiopia, saying that it reserves the right “to defend its water and national security in the event it is harmed,” after the three countries failed to reach an agreement.

Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia engaged in marathon negotiations for more than a decade without reaching an agreement requested by the two downstream countries from Addis Ababa, regarding the rules for operating and filling the largest dam on the continent of Africa.

A statement by the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said on Tuesday: “The meeting did not yield any results due to the continuation of the same Ethiopian positions of refusal over the past years to adopt any of the compromise technical and legal solutions that would secure the interests of the three countries, and Ethiopia’s persistence in reneging on what was reached.” It has understandings that meet its declared interests.”

The statement added: “It has become clear that the Ethiopian side is determined to continue exploiting the negotiating cover to perpetuate the status quo on the ground, and to negotiate for the purpose of extracting an instrument of consent from the two downstream countries on absolute Ethiopian control of the Blue Nile in isolation from international law.”