Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov announced, in Marrakech on Wednesday, the holding of a joint commission in Russia’s Capital Moscow at the beginning of 2024.
The news came after a bilateral meeting between the two diplomats at the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum held in the Red City.
The anticipated summit is intended to address a multitude of diverse topics such as energy and minerals, education, fisheries, and nuclear power plants, with the hopes of penning long-lasting bilateral agreements between the two ministries of foreign affairs.
On this occasion, Bourita recalled the historical ties between Morocco and Russia which date back over 200 years, a relationship that was crowned by King Mohammed VI’s two visits to the Russian Federation in 2002 and 2016. He added that Morocco is Russia’s third strategic partner in Africa.
Bourita reaffirmed Morocco’s principled position on the Ukraine crisis, based on respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all UN member states.
For his part, Lavrov reaffirmed his state’s position toward the Sahara issue, furthering regional peace and accelerating the UN political process regarding Morocco’s sovereignty in order to achieve an enduring and dignified solution without further delay.
He also affirmed Russia’s support for the efforts made by Staffan de Mistura, the Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Sahara, to revive the peace process.
The two ministers discussed other topics, mainly related to security in the Maghreb (especially Libya), the Sahel region, and the Middle East.
In this regard, Bourita emphasized the pivotal role played by Russia as an influential stakeholder and as a member of the UN Security Council.
Lavrov concluded the meeting by labeling the forum a successful one and ascertaining a healthy relationship between the two nations.