Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions at a joint press conference with the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Morocco, Nasser Bourita, March 15, 2016

President Vladimir Putin and King Mohammed VI of Morocco have just finished their talks. Based on the results of the talks, the heads of state instructed us to inform you about their outcome.

The meeting was held in several formats – narrow, extended, and one-on-one. All conversations were friendly and frank and took place in a very benign and confidential atmosphere. The parties addressed all the main aspects of our cooperation.

The heads of the two states are firmly intent on promoting interaction in various areas and on exploring new promising dimensions of our relations, something that has been stated clearly in the Joint Statement on Enhanced Strategic Partnership, which has been approved as a result of the visit.

Today, we witnessed the signing of about fifteen bilateral documents – intergovernmental, interagency, and between business entities. Given the tense situation in the Middle East and Northern Africa and the increased  threat of terrorism, the signing of the joint Russian-Moroccan Statement on Counteracting International Terrorism is of particular importance.

The heads of state focused on promoting trade and economic cooperation. For reasons related to the current world economic situation, trade between the two countries slightly declined last year. Both parties demonstrated resolve in remedying the situation. They discussed concrete possibilities for the increase of trade volumes as well as [progress] in other economic projects, including investment. It was decided that this would be tackled by the Intergovernmental Commission for Trade and Economic and Scientific Cooperation, which would hold its regular sixth meeting in Moscow later this year.

The parties examined the operations of yet another structure – the Intergovernmental Commission for Cooperation on Deep-Sea Fishing, and  decided to renew an existing intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in this area for another four years.. I am confident that this will give a new powerful impetus to our cooperation in this sector. The heads of state commended the rhythmical work done by the Intergovernmental Commission for Military-Technical Cooperation, which plans to hold its third meeting in Morocco in the latter half of this year.

We have reaffirmed that our stances on the majority of key issues on the international and regional agendas are close or coincide. Russia and Morocco stand for strict compliance with international law and respect for the central role of the UN. Our countries believe that conflicts and disputes should be settled exclusively through peaceful means and without foreign interference.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and King Mohammed VI of Morocco discussed the situation in Syria in this spirit. They have expressed mutual support for the processes that are underway in Geneva. His Majesty King Mohammed VI highly assessed Russia’s efforts in the struggle against terrorism in Syria and as part of the UN-sponsored political process that is being promoted by the Vienna group that is co-chaired by Russia and the United States. President Putin’s decision announced yesterday on the withdrawal of the main part of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ air group in light of the completion of its main tasks has been positively accepted as a measure designed to strengthen trust and promote the political process until it becomes irreversible.

We also discussed the situation in other regions in the Middle East and North Africa. The Russian party reaffirmed its high appreciation for Morocco’s contribution to stabilisation in the countries of the Arab Maghreb, including the deep statehood crisis in Libya. Indicatively, it was in Skhirat, Morocco, that an agreement was signed in December 2015, which the UN Security Council  subsequently approved and which opens the door to the development of a truly nationwide process of reconciliation and accord in Libya. Russia and its partners are working hard to spread this political process to all Libyan parties without exception.

We talked about solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the personal contribution of King Mohammed VI as Chairman of the OIC Al-Quds Committee (Jerusalem Committee). The solution of issues related to the status of Jerusalem, which is a holy city for three monotheistic religions, is an essential part of a comprehensive settlement in the Middle East, including the Palestinian-Israeli and Arab-Israeli conflicts.

The Russian party has reaffirmed its principled position on the settlement in Western Sahara. Our Moroccan colleagues respect our stance. We will continue to say that there is no alternative to searching for a political solution that is acceptable to all parties and that will comply with the standards and principles of the UN Charter.

The leaders of Russia and Morocco have expressed their mutual satisfaction with the results of this visit, which will definitely boost the positive development of our strategic partnership.

Question: Fifteen agreements were signed between Russia and Morocco today, and you said that you also discussed current international issues, including the fight against terrorism. Of course, all Moroccans are interested in settling the Saharan issue. What can you say additionally on this issue?

Sergey Lavrov: I have reaffirmed our stance, which was once again put forth at the meeting of our leaders today. This stance boils down to the need to work towards a strictly peaceful solution that would be acceptable for all parties. We believe that despite recent misunderstandings the UN must continue to act constructively and without prejudice in order to press for finding solutions that will take into account the interests of all parties and ensure a balance of these interests. The way towards this has been proposed many times, including in UN Security Council resolutions that urge a mutually acceptable solution, and the activities of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which is contributing to security in the region. I’d like to add that Russian military observers have been working on this mission since its establishment and that the Russian contingent remains one of the largest.

We also expressed hope that Moroccan authorities will continue to help ensure the security of mission members. It’s clear that this is an old and difficult problem and the interests of the parties involved do not fully coincide, to put it mildly. But we see no alternative except to reconcile these interests and search for compromises and consensus solutions to balance these interests. As His Majesty the King of Morocco has said, including today, the Kingdom of Morocco appreciates Russia’s position. Being a member of the UN Security Council and the Group of Friends of Western Sahara, Russia will continue to assist the UN in its efforts to achieve the results that will be acceptable to all parties.

Question: President Putin instructed you yesterday to step up efforts to launch the peace process towards a Syrian settlement. How will your work now differ from work you have done before? Exactly how do you intend to implement this instruction from the Russian President?

Sergey Lavrov: The Russian President adopted the decision that was announced yesterday on the day when UN-sponsored political talks began in Geneva between the delegations of the Syrian Government and several opposition groups. I have said that the talks have only begun because what we saw in January cannot be described as the launch of the talks; it was only an attempt that failed because one of the opposition groups advanced an ultimatum. I am glad that this time the attempts to advance unilateral conditions have not been supported by anyone and the talks have really begun. Of course, the beginning of the talks will require Russia, the United States and the UN to act more energetically as the co-chairs of the International Syria Support Group, which the UN Security Council has accepted as the main multilateral format for assisting in the search for intra-Syrian accord. It’s obvious that now that the talks have begun these three parties will undoubtedly have to intensify their actions as intermediaries and co-chairs of the ISSG.

Question: How will the partial withdrawal of the Russian Aerospace Forces from the Syrian Arab Republic influence Russia’s relations with the United States, Saudi Arabia, the European Union and other members of the International Syria Support Group? Will this step boost confidence towards Russia?

Sergey Lavrov: Our decision to partially stop the operations of the Russian Aerospace Forces was made on the grounds that the tasks set by President Vladimir Putin for the Russian Armed Forces in Syria and in response to a request by Syrian President Bashar Assad to bolster the ability of the Syrian Armed Forces to fight terrorism were mostly accomplished. The Syrian army has restored its positions in key sectors, and terrorists have sustained considerable casualties. In this connection, that this task was achieved became a decisive element in President Vladimir Putin’s decision. His decision was not made in order to please someone or to win anyone’s praise. We proceeded from the interests of the Syrian people and the Middle East region, from the interests of mobilising maximum international support for combating terrorism. This goal has been achieved, and a sound foundation has been laid for progress in all these areas and for inflicting a final blow on ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist organisations, as well as for addressing humanitarian issues, while making sure that the political process would, at long last, continue as planned.

Question: How can the West influence the Syrian opposition to achieve progress at the Geneva talks?

Sergey Lavrov: Regarding the external aspects of Russia’s decision, I can say that as we took the initiatives that were announced yesterday and worked over the last weeks and months to secure the consent of the Syrian government through the efforts in Vienna and later in New York and Munich, which ultimately paved the way to the start of the intra-Syrian talks, we expected our colleagues in the West and in the region to use every opportunity to convey the signals to the various opposition groups and ensure that they work constructively. We have reason to believe that our partners understand the need to work along these lines.

At least we see that the United States, as the co-chair of the ISSG, is willing to take this approach. The Russian and US military have established working contacts. This is something Russia has wanted to achieve for a long time. Our experts, I mean the Russian military at the Hmeymim air base and the US military from the centre in Jordan, are now working on strictly professional issues. Efforts are undertaken to shape a common perspective on who respects the ceasefire and how, where the violations take place, and which groups continue to support the ceasefire and are ready to join the peace process. There are still things to be done in this respect. We’ve provided the US with data on the groups that have signed on to the ceasefire including their exact coordinates and contact details. We would like to see our US partners inform us in a similarly detailed manner of the groups they enlist to respect the ceasefire.

As for our colleagues in the Persian Gulf, let me highlight Saudi Arabia. This country hosted one of the opposition conferences, which resulted in the creation of the so-called Riyadh Group, one of the main parties to the talks that are about to get underway in Geneva. We are grateful to our Saudi colleagues for influencing this group to change its stance since January and become serious about joining the political process, the intra-Syrian dialogue, and be willing to compromise and reach mutual agreements with the Syrian government. Let’s just hope that the government delegation, representatives of the so-called Riyadh Group, the Moscow-Cairo group, and those on the so-called Hmeymim List will be guided solely by the interests of their people and will put aside their personal ambitions. Let’s hope that they will strive to reach common ground based on the principles stipulated in the UN Security Council resolution approving the arrangements between Russia and the US as ISSG co-chairs.