Ahead of Mr. Nasser Bourita’s visit, Moscow describes Morocco as an “important partner” of Russia on the African continent

The ministry said that the head of Russian diplomacy, Serguei Lavrov, will hold, on Thursday in Moscow, a meeting with Mr. Bourita, during which they are expected to deeply explore the promising areas of the future development of Russian-Moroccan ties, which are traditionally cordial.

The statement also pointed out that Mr. Bourita will co-chair with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Patrushev, the 8th Russian-Moroccan Intergovernmental Joint Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

Russian diplomacy underlined, in this statement, that the leaders of the two countries, HM King Mohammed VI and President Vladimir Putin, “enjoy long-standing ties, founded on friendship and mutual respect.”

In this respect, it recalled that the Sovereign had paid two visits to Russia, in October 2002 and March 2016, during which a Declaration on the Strategic Partnership was signed, as well as a Declaration on the Deepened Strategic Partnership, which have become key programmatic documents defining the priorities for the future development of bilateral ties for decades to come.

For his part, President Putin paid an official visit to Morocco in September 2006, the same source added.

High-level Moroccan delegations, led by the Head of Government, also took part in the Russia-Africa Summit in 2019 and 2023, the same source pointed out.

During their meetings, Mr. Lavrov and Mr. Bourita will also discuss regional and international topical issues, mainly resolving conflicts and crisis situations in the Middle East, North Africa and the Sahel-Saharan region exclusively through political and diplomatic means.

Particular attention is expected to be paid to practical issues relating to the expansion of trade and economic cooperation, as well as ways to more fully exploit existing potential, the statement explained.

Recalling that a tight coordination has been established between the officials of the Russian and Moroccan ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Russian ministry underscored the regular meetings between Mr. Lavrov and Mr. Bourita, mainly on the sidelines of UN General Assembly events, as well as their phone conversations.

The Russian party holds hope that Mr. Bourita’s visit to Russia will contribute to further strengthening the multidimensional partnership with Morocco and promote the amplification of joint efforts in order to ensure lasting peace and stability in the Middle East and North Africa region, as well as in the Sahel, the Russian ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized in the statement.