The Special Representative of the Russian President for the Middle East and Africa and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov announced that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has planned two trips to Africa next January and February, to eight countries in addition to the Kingdom.
« Neither the pandemic nor the Western anti-Russian campaign might prevent the further development of multifaceted Russian-African ties “said the special representative of the Russian president for the Middle East and Africa taken over by the TASS Agency.
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister further indicated that the discussions will focus on ” practical aspects of cooperation with African countries under the new conditions without saying more.
Mikhail Bogdanov said that during his tour, Lavrov will also have ” bilateral contacts with the foreign ministers of Arab countries, including, of course, the Arab countries of North Africa ».
He also said that Russia was looking to organize a Russian-African bilateral summit and that ” all Moscow’s contacts in this regard are focused on preparing for this summit as efficiently as possible ».
That said, it is becoming increasingly clear that Russia is seeking to warm up its relations with Rabat, cold since the conflict in Ukraine. The Russian Foreign Minister is going to Morocco to discuss future bilateral relations and the crisis situation in the African Sahel region, without neglecting the issue of the Moroccan Sahara and the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Rabat will try to get Moscow to change its position on the Sahara issue or at least to attenuate it on the occasion of Lavrov’s visit to Rabat, because the Russian Federation is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. But so far Moscow remains firm. We will also try to convey the message that there is no other alternative than the political settlement of the Sahara conflict, on the basis of the resolutions of the UN Security Council and the Moroccan autonomy plan.
On the other hand, Moroccan diplomacy has chosen to refuse to resolve disputes through violence on the subject of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Morocco and the two parties to the conflict maintain important economic relations, particularly in the areas of the import and export of agricultural materials, which makes the balance of interests a decisive factor in any public position. regarding the ongoing war.
Morocco has made it known that it defends the territorial integrity of all United Nations countries. He has implicitly rejected the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and remains on a peaceful conflict resolution.