Western Sahara: Sahrawi Delegation Holds Talks With Russian Officials in the Capital, Moscow

Moscow (Russian Federation) — The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and President Putin’s Special Representative to the Middle East, Mr. Mikhail Bogdanov, met yesterday a Sahrawi delegation includes Mr. Khatri Aduh, member of the National Secretariat, responsible for the political affairs of the Polisario Front, and Dr. Sidi Mohamed Omar, Member of the National Secretariat, representative of the Polisario Front at the United Nations, and coordinator with MINURSO.

The meeting, which took place at the headquarters of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, comes within the framework of continuous communication between the Russian and the Sahrawi side. The two parties discussed several issues of common interest, including the status and prospects of the peace process sponsored by the United Nations in Western Sahara, and other related issues.

In this context, the Sahrawi delegation informed its interlocutors of the developments related to the Sahrawi issue and the peace process and the serious challenges it faces due to the Moroccan occupation state’s violation of the cease-fire on November 13, 2020, which imposed on the Saharawi people to resume their legitimate armed struggle. The delegation also affirmed the strong determination of the Sahrawi people to continue to defend, by all legitimate means, its inalienable rights to self-determination and independence.

For his part, the Russian official affirmed the steadfastness of his country’s position in support of the peace process sponsored by the United Nations in Western Sahara in order to reach a just and lasting solution that guarantees the Saharawi people their right to self-determination in accordance with United Nations resolutions. He also stressed that the path to a peaceful solution passes through direct negotiations between the recognized parties to the conflict, namely Morocco and the Polisario Front.

It should be noted that the Russian Federation has abstained from voting on the recent UN Security Council resolutions related to the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) as an expression of its protest against the non-consultative and unbalanced way in which the resolutions are formulated and negotiated, as well as the refusal to accept the amendments made in the past few years to the resolutions, which, according to the Russian side, harm the unbiased and impartial approach necessary to resolve the Western Sahara issue

The meeting was attended on the Russian side by Mr. Igor Belayev, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Department, and officials of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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