Russia has denied taking Ethiopia’s side in its dispute with Egypt over a massive dam built by Addis Ababa on the Blue Nile, a main tributary of the Nile River.

While Ethiopia, an upstream nation, says the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is key to its economic development, Egypt fears the giant dam will imperil its water share from the Nile River, the country’s main source of fresh water. Egypt and Sudan, two downstream countries, have been seeking to reach a legally binding agreement with Ethiopia on the filling and operation of the GERD, a demand rejected by Addis Ababa.

As African Union-sponsored negotiations failed to produce any breakthrough, Egypt and Sudan requested a UN Security Council session on July 8 in an attempt to settle the decade-long dispute with Ethiopia.

During the session, Russia’s delegate to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, cautioned that the statements of a possible use of force to protect Egypt’s water rights should be avoided. The speech, however, was seen in Cairo as Russian support to the Ethiopian position in the GERD dispute.