Saudi Arabia said it backs Egypt and Sudan in “preserving their legitimate water rights,” state news agency (SPA) reported on Tuesday.

“The kingdom supports the efforts of Egypt and Sudan to contain this crisis and their demands to solve it in accordance with the rules of international law. It also supports international moves aimed at finding a binding solution to end it,” SPA added.

“The Kingdom calls on the international community to boost efforts to find a clear mechanism to start talks between the three countries (Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia) to get out of this crisis,” SPA said.

Egypt’s irrigation minister Mohamed Abdel Aty said on Monday he had received official notice from Ethiopia that it had started filling the reservoir behind its giant hydropower dam, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), for a second year.

Egypt has informed Ethiopia of its categorical rejection of the measure, which it regards as a threat to regional stability, Abdel Aty said in a statement.

Ethiopia says the dam on its Blue Nile is critical to its economic development and providing power to its population.