Russia holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of July. The program circulated by Moscow's embassy to the United Nations in New York did not include any meetings on the Western Sahara issue. For his part, Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia did not address the Sahara issue or MINURSO at a press briefing held yesterday in New York to present his country's agenda for the month. The diplomat announced the organization of three debates on: multilateral cooperation for a more equitable, democratic and sustainable world order, scheduled for July 16; conflict resolution in the Middle East, to be chaired on July 17 by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov; and a discussion, on July 19, on cooperation between the UN and regional organizations. Algeria regularly takes advantage of these open debates to advocate Polisario positions or criticize Morocco. In April, for example, the Algerian Foreign Minister took part in a debate organized by the Republic of Malta at the Security Council on the integration of young people from the Mediterranean in actions to promote security and peace. In the same vein, Algiers' Permanent Representative to the UN spoke up for the Polisario during a debate on June 14 at the Security Council on the adoption of a resolution urging States to publicly condemn violence, hate speech and extremism motivated by discrimination. On June 27, Moscow hosted the 3rd session of political consultations between Russia and Algeria. The Sahara issue was on the meeting's agenda, according to Algerian media reports.
