On December 15, Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who is in Rabat together with an inter-departmental delegation headed by Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev, met with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco Salaheddine Mezouar.
During their detailed conversation, the parties discussed a number of issues regarding the further development of traditionally friendly Russia-Morocco relations, including the activities of the inter-governmental Russian-Moroccan commission for economic and science-technological cooperation, whose Moroccan section is chaired by Mr Mezouar.
The parties also conducted a detailed exchange of opinions on topical Middle East and African developments, in particular on issues of the Syrian peace settlement, the Palestinian issue and the situation in North Africa. They focused on the need to normalise the situation in Libya and to scale down tensions in the Sahara-Sahel region. At the same time, they emphasised the need to rely on the principles of international law and the UN Charter, while addressing all conflict situations in the Middle East and Africa, including the consolidation of the international community's efforts to combat international terrorism.