The U.N. Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, known as MINURSO, was established in 1991 to monitor a cease-fire after a 15-year armed conflict between Morocco, which claims sovereignty over the territory, and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks Sahrawi independence. It was also tasked with organizing a referendum for Sahrawi self-determination, a vote that has stalled for decades.
Last month, a US draft resolution sought to remove "referendum" from the mission's name and make semi-autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty the sole basis for future political negotiations over the territory. It would also have scaled back the peacekeeping force by April 2027. Russia vetoed that plan and instead put forward a rival proposal granting the standard one-year extension without imposing terms that favored Morocco; the United States voted that down.
Morocco annexed Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975, displacing more than 100,000 people, and an International Court of Justice ruling the same year found no historical basis for Morocco's claim over the area. Rabat now controls around 80 percent of the territory, which holds rich Atlantic fishing grounds and phosphate reserves, while more than 160,000 Sahrawi refugees live in camps hosted by Algeria. International aid groups have denounced the Security Council's failure to renew the mission and find a solution to the severe humanitarian crisis caused by the political stalemate.
Western powers traditionally maintained a neutral position on Western Sahara's status, but in 2020, during US President Donald Trump's first term, Washington recognized Rabat's sovereignty over the territory in exchange for Morocco reestablishing diplomatic relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords. Russia's stance has been largely driven by its close geopolitical and economic alliance with Algeria, which backs the Sahrawi liberation movement.
Washington and Moscow traded barbs in the wake of the deadlock. Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the UN, said Russia's veto prevents "historic steps toward finally ending a 50-year conflict." His Russian counterpart, Vassily Nebenzia, said the US plan would have "set back the entire process of resolving the Western Sahara issue" by disregarding "a just, free and fair settlement based on the principle of self-determination." Sidi Omar, the Polisario Front's UN representative, warned that the US resolution would "not only torpedo the foundations of the U.N. peace process but would also have set a very dangerous precedent that threatens broader regional and international peace and security."
Some analysts echoed those criticisms. "Eager for a quick diplomatic win," wrote Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, Washington has "closed the space for negotiations and risks creating regional instability." A small UN team is now supervising a phased withdrawal of peacekeepers and the return of military vehicles and other assets to troop-contributing nations, including Egypt, Ghana, and Pakistan. Security observers fear MINURSO's departure could lead to renewed fighting in the territory, and some analysts fear Morocco may be emboldened to send in troops in a bid to grab more territory.
Tuesday's US midterm elections, in which Democrats took control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, could eventually lead to a more nuanced stance from Washington on Western Sahara, since many Democrats have expressed support for the UN-led process, but any immediate reversal is unlikely.