US says it facilitated talks on Western Sahara with regional parties in Madrid

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - The US said Monday that it helped facilitate recent discussions in Spain involving actors in the Western Sahara as part of an effort spearheaded by the UN Security Council.

In a post on US social media compay X, Washington's mission to the UN said senior delegations from the US and the UN brought together in Madrid representatives from Morocco, the Polisario Front group, Algeria and Mauritania to discuss the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2797, adopted in 2025.

The resolution renewed the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and reaffirmed support for a UN-led political process aimed at reaching a mutually acceptable political solution in the region.

While the talks were the first of their kind since negotiations in 2019 in Geneva, the US mission did not provide further details related to the talks.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric also confirmed the meeting took place, speaking at a routine news conference in New York. He said a senior delegation including UN envoy for the Western Sahara Staffan de Mistura were at the talks along with the US officials.

On Saturday, Algeria's Foreign Ministry said the sides had reviewed "the state of cooperation and partnership between the two countries, exploring prospects for further momentum, particularly in the fields of energy, trade, investment, and transport, as well as judicial and consular cooperation."

Morocco and Algeria have kept their border closed since 1994 amid political disputes, most notably over Western Sahara. Observers in both countries are watching the reported US initiative closely, hoping it could ease the long-standing diplomatic rift.

In October, US envoy Steve Witkoff said his team was working on an agreement between Morocco and Algeria. Later that month, the UN Security Council adopted a US-backed resolution supporting Morocco’s autonomy proposal for Western Sahara.

The dispute dates back to 1975, after Spain ended its colonial rule of the territory. It escalated into an armed conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front until a 1991 ceasefire.

Morocco controls most of the territory and proposes broad autonomy under its sovereignty, while the Polisario Front calls for a self-determination referendum, a position backed by Algeria, which hosts refugees from the territory.