Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune raised the Sahara issue on Wednesday during a joint press conference with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is visiting Algeria amid growing international isolation over Minsk's support for Moscow in the war against Ukraine. «We discussed several international and regional issues and exchanged views on them», Tebboune told reporters. As for the «Western Sahara issue», he said Algeria had «reiterated its attachment to a fair political solution in line with international legitimacy, allowing the Sahrawi people to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination». He also reaffirmed Algeria's support for the UN Secretary-General's personal envoy. Tebboune's remarks come as Staffan de Mistura prepares to invite all parties, including Algeria, to resume negotiations, in accordance with the latest UN Security Council resolution, which describes Morocco's autonomy initiative as a serious and realistic basis for resolving the dispute. His statement echoes recent positions expressed by the Polisario leadership, who have said they are ready to return to the negotiating table but continue to link this to what they call «allowing the Sahrawi people to determine their destiny», signaling ongoing rejection of the autonomy plan as the foundation for a political solution. Just days after the adoption of Resolution 2797, De Mistura stressed that the text «clearly identifies the parties to the conflict: Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria, and Mauritania». He also underlined that the resolution refers to the «principle of self-determination» while making an «explicit reference to Moroccan sovereignty», emphasizing «the need for a mutually agreed solution», one that involves «genuine autonomy, not just autonomy, but actual autonomy».
