Rabat – The 6th ministerial session of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum will be held in Morocco on December 15 in Marrakech.
The decision was announced during a meeting between Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov alongside the Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, on the sidelines of the Paris International Conference for Libya on November 12.
The Russian-Arab Forum will be preceded the day before, December 14, by a Morocco-Russia meeting co-chaired by Bourita and Lavrov, during which bilateral conventions will be signed.
Initially, the event was scheduled for October 28.
After an earlier announcement of the forum’s postponement, some Algerian news outlets interpreted it as a prominent sign of a silent crisis between Moscow and Rabat, linking it to flight suspensions by Morocco to and from Russia on October 5 due to the COVID-19 measures.
“A Fuse has ignited between Morocco and Russia to the extent that the Russian ambassador to Morocco left to his country, while Algeria is mentioned as one of the reasons behind the worsening crisis,” Algerian outlet Echourouk Online reported on October 18.
Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry strongly denied the rumors, tweeting, “There is no doubt that the newspaper can claim a prize in two categories at the same time: as a classic model of disinformation and for false analysis.”
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Last month, the 8th meeting of the Moroccan-Russian Joint Cooperation Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation as well as other important bilateral events were at the heart of a meeting between the Russian diplomat and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and the Moroccan ambassador to Moscow Lotfi Bouchaara.
According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry, “during this meeting, current issues related to the development of the traditionally friendly Russian-Moroccan relations were thoroughly discussed, including the organization of the 8th meeting of the Intergovernmental Joint Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation in Moscow, as soon as possible.”
In response to the allegations raised by Algerian media, the two representatives expressed their deep astonishment at “the unfounded information spread by several media outlets on an alleged cooling of relations between Moscow and Rabat.”
As the multifaceted and mutually beneficial Russo-Moroccan cooperation continues to develop, Russia’s Foreign Ministry highlighted the active role played in this joint work by the Russian ambassador to Morocco Valerian Shuvaev.
During the meeting, Russia reaffirmed its unwavering position “in favor of a negotiated settlement of crises and conflicts based on respect for fundamental principles and norms of international law, as well as the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council,” the same source added.
Russo-Morocco economic ties continue to grow, recent data from the Russian government shows that Morocco is Moscow’s third trade partner in Africa.
The data also shows a 20% increase in exports from Russia to Morocco during the first half of 2021.
Russia mainly exports wheat and coal to Morocco, while the North African nation exports its fruits and vegetables.
