UNITED NATIONS, October 29. / TASS /. Russia abstained from voting in the UN Security Council on a US draft resolution to extend the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Friday, noting that the document did not reflect any of Russia’s well-founded remarks.

"Russia abstained from voting on the UN Security Council’s draft resolution, prepared by the US, on the extension of the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara," the Russian envoy noted. "During the talks, our well-founded remarks and bridging proposals were not given due consideration. Also, a number of constructive proposals made by other members of the Council were ignored. For that reason, the resolution before us today does not reflect the objective picture that has developed in the Western Sahara settlement following the escalation of military clashes, which took place in November 2020. Also, [the document] is unlikely to contribute to the efforts made by UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura in order to resume the direct negotiations."

For many decades, the situation in Western Sahara has been the subject of a long international dispute. The Polisario Front, established in the mid-1970s, sought independence for Western Sahara. After the departure of the Spanish colonialists, it proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and, supported by Algeria, launched an armed struggle.

The clashes continued until 1991 and then were stopped by the UN peacekeeping mission. Although the global community carried out numerous peace initiatives, the dispute still has not been resolved due to the strongly divergent views.

Morocco considers Western Sahara as its integral part and only allows to grant broader autonomy within the kingdom. Since June 2007, Morocco and the Polisario Front have held four rounds of negotiations without yielding any results.