The UN Security Council did not renew MINURSO’s mandate—a decisive step toward ending its presence in the Western Sahara—after Russia vetoed a key resolution sponsored by the United States that had international support for autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.
According to Morocco’s Royal Cabinet, the UN political process “has unfortunately been marked by the other parties’ procrastination and insistence on creating a state of deadlock and perpetuating the status quo.”
Morocco’s Royal Cabinet said today that the non-renewal of the mandate of MINURSO, the peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, clearly means that the mission’s presence in the Kingdom’s southern provinces should come to an end in the coming days.
The statement from Morocco’s Royal Cabinet said the decision constitutes an “important development,” describing it as a “major step” toward bringing the issue of Western Sahara to a “definitive conclusion” within the corridors of the UN. The Cabinet emphasized that this major step marks the celebration of Unity Day, a national holiday King Mohammed VI declared in October 2025.
The monarch’s decision to declare October 31 a holiday last year marked the adoption of Resolution 2797, which acknowledged and recognized Morocco’s Autonomy Plan as a genuine political solution and the basis under which parties to the dispute should negotiate a political solution and an agreed-upon political solution to end the dispute over Western Sahara.
Morocco reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire and said it would continue diplomatic efforts to secure international support for autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty.
It should be noted that that on October 30, Russia vetoed a U.S. bill that had received 11 out of 15 votes.
Consequently the MINURSO, the UN mission in Western Sahara, the term that was not renewed is set to expire on Saturday, October 31, 2026.
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