Tags : Russia, Serguey Lavrov, Morocco, Nasser Bourita, Western Sahara, Sahel,
15 October 2025 14:04
Press release on the upcoming visit to Russia of Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates of the Kingdom of Morocco Nasser Bourita
1701-15-10-2025
On October 16, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates of the Kingdom of Morocco Nasser Bourita, who will visit Moscow in capacity of Co-chair of the Russian-Moroccan Joint Commission on Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation so as to participate in its regular 8th meeting. The commission’s Russian co-chair is Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Patrushev.
It is being planned to discuss in detail the promising areas of further development of traditionally friendly Russian-Moroccan relations. It is intended to focus on practical issues related to expanding trade and economic cooperation and on ways towards a fuller engagement of available potential.
The ministers will exchange views on current issues on the international and regional agenda with a focus on the need for an early settlement of conflicts and crises in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Sahara-Sahel region solely by political and diplomatic methods in strict conformity with the principles of the UN Charter and UN Security Council resolutions.
Russia regards Morocco as an important partner in Africa. Our countries cooperate closely at the UN and other international venues, where the positions of Moscow and Rabat are usually close or identical.
Leaders of our countries – President of Russia Vladimir Putin and King Mohammed VI of Morocco – share a years-long relationship of friendship and mutual respect. The Moroccan monarch visited Russia in October 2002 and in March 2016. During these visits, the two sides signed the Declaration on Strategic Partnership and approved the Statement on Extended Strategic Partnership, which became crucial programmatic documents defining the priorities in the further development of bilateral relations for decades ahead. For his part, President of Russia Vladimir Putin paid an official visit to Morocco in September 2006.
High-level Moroccan delegations led by the country’s prime ministers took part in the Russia-Africa summits in 2019 and 2023.
Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov and Foreign Minister of Morocco Nasser Bourita maintain close coordination, meeting regularly on the sidelines of UN General Assembly events and speaking over the phone.
The Russian side hopes that Mr Nasser Bourita’s upcoming visit to Russia will serve to strengthen even further the multifaceted Russian-Moroccan partnership and intensify their joint efforts in the interests of ensuring a lasting peace and stability in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Sahara-Sahel region.
Source : Russian Foreign Ministry
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16 October 2025 13:48
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates of the Kingdom of Morocco Nasser Bourita, Moscow, October 16, 2025
1708-16-10-2025
Mr Minister,
Dear Nasser,
Friends,
We are delighted to welcome your delegation to the Foreign Ministry.
Our relations are based on the agreements reached between our leaders – President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco. They are enshrined in the 2002 Declaration on Strategic Partnership and the subsequent Statement on Deepening the Strategic Partnership.
Your visit to Moscow reflects the comprehensive nature of our partnership. Alongside today’s discussions on foreign policy matters, tomorrow you will co-chair, together with Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Patrushev, the 8th meeting of the Russian-Moroccan Intergovernmental Joint Commission on Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation.
We attach special importance to today’s talks, given the challenging international environment and the complex developments taking place in your region – in the Middle East and North Africa. The Russian Federation stands ready to contribute to resolving these issues jointly with other interested states.
This requires continued coordination on international platforms, above all within the framework of the United Nations. It also implies the further strengthening of cooperation between Russia and the League of Arab States.
Our bilateral foreign policy consultations play a special role, and we pay close attention to them. I am confident that today’s meeting will allow us to address a wide range of pressing issues to our mutual benefit.
Source : Russian Foreign Ministry
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16 October 2025 16:12
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at a news conference held jointly with Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccans Residing Abroad of the Kingdom of Morocco Nasser Bourita, Moscow, October 16, 2025
1710-16-10-2025
Ladies and gentlemen,
I held useful and substantive talks with my colleague and friend Nasser Bourita, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccans Residing Abroad of the Kingdom of Morocco.
We reiterated mutual firm commitment to continuing joint work aimed at further strengthening the traditionally friendly and trust-based strategic partnership between our two countries.
We reviewed in detail bilateral issues and briefly touched on trade and economic exchanges. Both sides are interested in expanding trade and identifying areas for mutual investment.
We agreed that the potential for practical cooperation in these areas is far from being exhausted. We did not go into great detail on this today, as tomorrow will be largely devoted to the 8th Meeting of the Russian-Moroccan Intergovernmental Joint Commission on Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation. My colleague co-chairs the Commission on the Moroccan side, and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev co-chairs it from the Russian side. The agenda of the Intergovernmental Commission is rich and diverse, and we are looking forward to seeing good results.
We were pleased to note the high level of interaction in a number of other areas, particularly in the humanitarian sphere, notably, education. Currently, 4,250 Moroccan students are studying in Russia. There is strong interest in obtaining education in our country, and we will continue to support it as best we can. We will do our best to accommodate everyone wishing to study at Russian universities.
We discussed promising contacts between our media outlets as well. There are reciprocal journalist visits and internship exchanges, which we will continue to encourage as well.
Our foreign ministries maintain steady and trusting contacts, primarily at the United Nations, as well as in other international venues, including the Russia–Africa and Russia-Arab League forums.
We share the view that our interaction and coordination will be further enhanced by the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of an Inter-Ministerial Working Committee to deepen the strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Morocco, which was just signed in your presence.
We exchanged views on urgent international challenges prioritising the situation in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Sahel-Sahara region. We also discussed the situation surrounding the Western Sahara settlement in light of ongoing discussions at the UN Security Council.
We reaffirmed our principled position in favour of resolving all remaining issues and conflicts in Africa and other parts of the world exclusively by political and diplomatic means relying on the fundamental principles and norms of international law enshrined in the UN Charter. We share the view that these principles must not be applied selectively à la carte, but be fully respected and implemented in their entirety and interconnection.
We discussed in detail the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone. Morocco traditionally plays an important part in promoting efforts towards peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue. In this regard, we note the role played by His Majesty King Mohammed VI as Chairman of the Al-Quds Committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
We welcomed the emerging positive changes on the ground, meaning the Palestinian territories, primarily the Gaza Strip. We expressed satisfaction with the successful launch of the first phase of the agreements between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire in Gaza and an exchange of detainees. This agreement was reached with the mediation of the United States, Egypt, Qatar, and Türkiye.
We expect – and this is our shared position – that the agreements will be strictly observed, taking into account the results of the peace summit held on October 13 in Sharm el-Sheikh, and that their implementation will not mark the end of the process, but will be followed by further steps. These were discussed extensively, including at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit.
The ceasefire in Gaza must be sustainable in order to enable the delivery of humanitarian aid and the subsequent large-scale rebuilding of the enclave’s infrastructure, which has been almost completely destroyed during the hostilities. Otherwise, our efforts to create conditions for the return of internally displaced persons and refugees will not succeed. These are serious matters. It is important to address them in a way that does not undermine the prospects for full implementation of UN resolutions on the establishment of a Palestinian state, and to ensure that the humanitarian processes currently underway contribute to the creation of conditions for a political solution that eliminates the core causes of the Palestinian-Israeli and Arab-Israeli conflicts. It is essential to resume the Middle East peace process as soon as possible based on UN resolutions providing for the creation of an independent Palestinian state living in peace and security side by side with Israel.
We expressed our appreciation to our Moroccan colleagues for their balanced and well-considered position on the situation in and around Ukraine. In Rabat, as in most capitals of the Global South and the Global East, there is an understanding that a sustainable settlement is impossible without addressing the underlying causes of the crisis, namely, the security threats to Russia that NATO has created over many years by moving its military infrastructure ever closer to our borders, and using Ukraine as a launching pad to create threats to our country.
This also includes gross violations, even legislative bans, of the rights of the Russian-speaking people in Ukraine, not only linguistic rights but also religious rights when, along with outlawing the Russian language, the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church was banned.
I would like to close by noting that next year marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption, at the top level, of the Joint Statement on Deepening the Strategic Partnership. We agreed to mark the occasion with a series of events, including exchanges of delegations between sector-specific ministries and the stepping up of parliamentary contacts. Our Moroccan friends have supported the idea of holding Russian Culture Days in Morocco.
We will continue to maintain an all-embracing and trust-based dialogue.
Source : Russian Foreign Ministry
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16 October 2025 22:51
Press release on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccan Expatriates of the Kingdom of Morocco Nasser Bourita
1714-16-10-2025
On October 16, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation, and Moroccan Expatriates of the Kingdom of Morocco Nasser Bourita, who arrived in Moscow to participate in the 8th regular session of the Russian-Moroccan Intergovernmental Joint Commission on Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation as its co-chair.
The ministers conducted an in-depth examination of a range of practical issues related to the progressive enhancement of the traditionally friendly Russian-Moroccan relations. They exchanged perspectives on the evolving situation in North Africa and the Sahara-Sahel region. Both parties reaffirmed their mutual interest in augmenting foreign policy coordination, including in the pursuit of resolving ongoing crises in the Middle East and Africa through political and diplomatic means, grounded in the fundamental principles and norms of international law and the central role of the United Nations.
During the talks, a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of a Russian-Moroccan Inter-Ministerial Working Committee was signed, aimed at deepening the strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Morocco.
Source : Russian Foreign Ministry
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16 Oct, 16:54
Moroccan foreign minister invites Russian counterpart to visit Morocco
Nasser Bourita also said that he was grateful for the fruitful dialogue with Sergey Lavrov
MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita has invited Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to visit Morocco, noting that the country would be pleased to host the top Russian diplomat.
« I am grateful for the fruitful dialogue with my colleague Sergey Lavrov. I hope that he will visit us in Morocco as well, we will be happy to host him. We met in Marrakesh at a meeting of the RACF [Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum – TASS], but we hope to see even more visits and see you during these visits in our country, » Bourita stated at a press conference following talks with Lavrov.
The top Moroccan diplomat added that 2026 will mark the 10th anniversary of the signing of the declaration on an enhanced strategic partnership between the two countries. « Morocco and Russia are committed to building a multipolar and just world, and we believe this is an acceptable form of coexistence for all nations and a fair solution to many problems. It is precisely this that provides an opportunity for African countries to develop as well, and we understand that such a world order will benefit everyone, » he emphasized.
Source : TASS
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Russia ready to facilitate settlement processes in Middle East — Lavrov
The top Russian diplomat emphasized the need for Russia and Morocco to continue coordinating their activities on international platforms, primarily within the United Nations
MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. Moscow is ready to work together with other interested countries to help resolve the issues facing the Middle East and North Africa, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita.
« Today’s talks are particularly important amid the difficult situation on the international stage, which includes the uncertainty surrounding the events that are taking place in your region – the Middle East and North Africa. Russia is ready to contribute to efforts to resolve issues in this part of the world together with other interested countries, » he pointed out.
The top Russian diplomat emphasized the need for the two countries to continue coordinating their activities on international platforms, primarily within the United Nations. « This certainly envisages continued cooperation as part of Russia’s interaction with the Arab League. Undoubtedly, our bilateral foreign policy consultations play a special role here; we pay close attention to them, and I am sure that today, we will be able to consider many pressing issues in a constructive manner, » he added.
Lavrov also noted that the Moroccan foreign minister’s visit to the Russian capital highlighted the comprehensive partnership between the two countries. According to him, Thursday’s agenda includes discussions of foreign policy issues, while on Friday, Bourita will take part in the eighth meeting of the Russia-Morocco intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation that he co-chairs together with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev.
Source : TASS
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16/10/2025
Russia and Morocco would like to increase trade: Lavrov
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16/10/2025
Russia is grateful to Morocco for its balanced position on the Ukrainian crisis: Lavrov
Sputnik Africa (suscribers)
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16/10/2025
Morocco welcomes Russia’s contribution to resolving conflicts in the Middle East: FM
Sputnik Africa (subscribers)
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Partenariat Russie-Maroc: un ministre marocain nomme les domaines les plus prometteurs
19:11 17.10.2025 (Mis à jour: 19:22 17.10.2025)
Partenariat Russie-Maroc: un ministre marocain nomme les domaines les plus prometteurs
Le Maroc et la Russie sont des « partenaires fiables », leurs relations, qui se renforcent depuis la visite du roi Mohammed VI à Moscou en 2016, offrent « des opportunités de coopération » les domaines suivants:
le commerce,
les investissements
l’énergie.
Le ministre marocain des Affaires étrangères, Nasser Bourita, a fait cette déclaration lors de la 8e réunion de la commission mixte russo-marocaine pour la coopération économique, scientifique et technique à Moscou.
Le 16 octobre, le ministre avait rencontré son homologue russe Sergueï Lavrov.
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Le Maroc salue la contribution de la Russie à la résolution de conflits, selon son chef de diplomatie
14:36 16.10.2025 (Mis à jour: 14:42 16.10.2025)
Le Maroc salue la contribution de la Russie à la résolution de conflits, selon son chef de diplomatie
Les ministres des Affaires étrangères des deux pays se sont réunis à Moscou. Voici leurs déclarations clés lors de la conférence de presse qui a suivi la rencontre:
Sergueï Lavrov:
La Russie remercie le Maroc pour sa position équilibrée et réfléchie sur la situation en Ukraine.
Moscou et Rabat saluent la première étape du règlement du conflit israélo-palestinien et attendent la stricte application des accords conclus.
Un processus de paix au Moyen-Orient doit être rétabli sur la base du principe de deux États.
Le cessez-le-feu dans la bande de Gaza doit être durable afin que la reconstruction des infrastructures de l’enclave puisse commencer.
Les deux pays ont intérêt à accroître leurs échanges commerciaux et à explorer des opportunités d’investissement. Le potentiel de coopération dans ces domaines est loin d’être épuisé.
Plus de 4.000 Marocains étudient en Russie, et l’intérêt pour l’éducation en Russie est élevé.
Nasser Bourita:
Le Maroc soutient la création d’une Palestine indépendante avec Jérusalem-Est comme capitale.
Les efforts de Donald Trump pour résoudre la situation dans la bande de Gaza sont louables, et les termes de l’accord doivent être respectés.
Le Maroc salue l’influence positive de la Russie sur la résolution des conflits au Moyen-Orient et en Afrique.
Le roi Mohammed VI du Maroc apprécie ses relations avec le Président russe Vladimir Poutine.
Des vols Casablanca – Saint-Pétersbourg seront lancés afin de soutenir le développement du secteur touristique.
Abonnez-vous @sputnik_afrique
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La Russie et le Maroc aimeraient accroître leurs échanges commerciaux – Lavrov
14:01 16.10.2025 (Mis à jour: 14:02 16.10.2025)
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Le roi du Maroc tient à sa relation avec Vladimir Poutine, assure le ministre marocain des Affaires étrangères
13:59 16.10.2025 (Mis à jour: 14:02 16.10.2025)
Sputnik Afrique
