Attaf and Lavrov discuss the Sahara at Moscow meeting
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Yabiladi
Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf and his Russian counterpart Sergueï Lavrov discussed the Sahara during a meeting in Moscow on 27 October. The Russian statement cited coordination on regional conflicts and a strengthened strategic partnership, while Algeria’s statement did not explicitly mention the Sahara issue.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergueï Lavrov and his Algerian counterpart, Ahmed Attaf, discussed the Sahara during their meeting in Moscow on Tuesday 27 October. Lavrov listed the issue among regional matters to be discussed on the sidelines of the third Russia-Africa summit, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The two ministers also discussed strengthening the strategic partnership between Moscow and Algiers and their cooperation at the UN. According to the Russian statement, they expressed their willingness to coordinate efforts to resolve ongoing conflicts through political and diplomatic means, in accordance with international law and the UN Charter.
The meeting comes ahead of the vote expected on 30 October at the UN Security Council on a resolution concerning the Sahara. Draft versions provide for a review of the mandates of MINURSO, the UN mission tasked with a referendum in the Sahara. On 9 October, Algiers had asked Moscow to support maintaining the mission’s powers as defined in 1991.
The two ministers had already met on 24 September in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The Moscow meeting is also part of a series of diplomatic contacts by Ahmed Attaf, including his talks with his Zimbabwean counterpart in New York.
