MOSCOW, September 08. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with African Union Special Envoy for Western Sahara Joaquim Chissano on Monday to discuss the growing terrorist threat in Africa, the Foreign Ministry said.

Lavrov and Chissano discussed a settlement in Western Sahara and “stressed the need to continue the search for a long-term and mutually acceptable political solution in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions”, the ministry said.

They also considered pressing international and regional issues, including the growing terrorist threat in Africa, voicing concern about the serious instability in the Sahara-Sahel region.

Lavrov noted “the important and leading role of the African Union in the peaceful settlement of numerous conflicts and crises in Africa”, the ministry said.

Chissano also met with the Russian president’s special representative for the Middle East and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.