UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara lapses after US-Russia clash at Security Council

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara, MINURSO, has come to an end after 35 years, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres confirmed on Sunday, two days after the Security Council failed to agree on keeping it alive.

Al Jazeera reported that Guterres, speaking through spokesman Stephane Dujarric, remains worried about security across the disputed territory and the danger that fighting could flare up again. He called on everyone involved to show maximum restraint and avoid steps that might heighten tensions or damage stability in the region.

A split Council

The mission’s fate was settled on Friday. According to Al Jazeera, Washington put forward a draft that would have extended the mandate by a year, deleted “referendum” from the mission’s title and treated Morocco’s autonomy plan as the only foundation for further talks.

Russia vetoed the text, even though 11 of the 15 members voted in favour, among them France and the United Kingdom. A competing Russian draft was then voted down, so the mandate lapsed with nothing to replace it.

US Ambassador Mike Waltz said it was regrettable that in 2026 a veto was cast to keep the letter R, for referendum, in the mission’s name. He argued that the American proposal would have pushed a conflict now in its 50th year toward resolution, and that leaving things as they are was not acceptable. Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia replied that Moscow objected because the draft backed one party, adding that the Council cannot settle sovereignty questions in advance.

Reactions and wind-down

Guterres said 1 November opened a liquidation phase, in which the mission’s equipment is being shipped back to the countries that contributed troops. He added that the UN remains ready to help dialogue and a peaceful settlement.

Morocco’s royal palace described the lapse as a “significant development” that removes the Western Sahara question from the Council’s consideration. Algeria’s Foreign Ministry took the opposite view on Saturday, expressing “deep regret” and blaming what it called the “excessive bias” of the United States toward Morocco’s position. The Polisario Front said it was “concerned at the deadlock” in the Council.

Background

The UN created MINURSO in 1991 to oversee a ceasefire and organise a vote on the territory’s future. Morocco has regarded Western Sahara as its own since 1975, when Spain pulled out of the desert region in northwest Africa, which Al Jazeera likens in size to Britain. The Polisario Front, backed by Algeria and speaking for the Indigenous Sahrawi people, wants an independent Sahrawi Republic.

What happens on the ground now is unclear. Al Jazeera’s account offers no sign of a new Council initiative, and the only commitment from the UN is to remain available to support talks.