Russian and Polisario Front interests are intersecting at the Atlantic Ocean, providing the potential for an unexpected relationship that could change the status of the Western Sahara conflict.
On March 23, Moscow welcomed a delegation from the Polisario Front, the independence movement of the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara — territory to which Morocco also lays claim. M'hamed Khadad, the Polisario's coordinator with the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, led the delegation and met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov. The latter received the Moroccan king last year.