Moscow (Russia), April 28, 2026 (SPS) – The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Mr. Alexander Sergeevich Alimov, met with a Sahrawi delegation led by Mr. Mohamed Yeslem Beisat, Minister of Foreign Affairs and African Affairs.
The delegation also included Dr. Sidi Mohamed Omar, member of the National Secretariat, Polisario Front representative to the United Nations, coordinator with MINURSO, as well as Dr. Ali Salem Mohamed Fadel, the Polisario Front’s representative in the Russian Federation.
The meeting, held at the headquarters of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow, comes within the framework of ongoing communication between the Russian and Sahrawi sides. It allowed both parties to discuss several issues of mutual interest, including the status and prospects of the UN-led peace process in Western Sahara, along with other related matters, in light of the recent UN Security Council consultations on the MINURSO mission.
In this context, the Sahrawi delegation briefed their counterparts on the latest developments regarding the Sahrawi issue and the peace process, including the course of recent discussions between the two parties to the conflict, the Polisario Front and Morocco, in the presence of the observer countries, Algeria and Mauritania.
The Sahrawi delegation also reaffirmed the Polisario Front’s readiness to engage in direct negotiations with the Moroccan side under UN auspices, with the aim of enabling the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to complete the implementation of its mandate as established by the Security Council. They stressed the strong commitment of the Sahrawi people to their inalienable and non-negotiable rights to self-determination and independence.
For his part, the Russian official reaffirmed his country’s consistent position in support of the UN-led peace process in Western Sahara, based on relevant Security Council resolutions, in order to reach a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable solution between the two parties to the conflict, the Polisario Front and Morocco. He emphasized that such a solution should be in line with the principles and purposes of the UN Charter and guarantee the Sahrawi people’s right to genuine and free self-determination.
It is worth noting that the Russian Federation abstained from voting on recent UN Security Council resolutions concerning the renewal of the MINURSO mandate, expressing its protest against what it described as the non-consultative and unbalanced manner in which these resolutions are drafted and negotiated, which, according to the Russian side, undermines the impartial and neutral approach required to resolve the Western Sahara issue.
Also attending the meeting on the Russian side was Mr. Kirill Logvinov, Director of the Department of International Organizations.
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