De Mistura visits Russia at invitation from Moscow and Algeria “barks” out of the herd

The special envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura, visited Moscow the day before yesterday, where he met the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, according to what was revealed by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website that the main focus of the meeting was on the situation of the settlement process in the Sahara, as well as the role played by the United Nations Mission for Western Sahara (MINURSO ).
Furthermore, the source added, views were exchanged on the prospects for resuming the political process, taking into account De Mistura’s recent contacts with all parties concerned.
As usual, Algeria and the Polisario Front tried to distort the results and objectives of the visit and link them to the visit of the UN special envoy to Western Sahara to South Africa, by presenting to Algerian public opinion as a diplomatic victory for Algeria and the separatist thesis.
Returning to the real context of De Mistura’s visit to Moscow, it is part of the efforts made by the United Nations with the permanent members of the Security Council, including Russia, with the aim of seeking political solutions. The Russian Foreign Ministry had already expressed its interest in making progress on this issue during a previous visit to Morocco, stating that “Russia is interested in making progress on this issue” and that its approach to the settlement remains “balanced, impartial and not subject to change”, stressing that her country “supports a rapid and lasting settlement in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions” and that she intends to continue to defend this guideline.