The United States emphasized the need for the Polisario Front to respect the ceasefire as a first step to demonstrate good faith ahead of talks without preconditions, sources told Hespress, in consultations held in Washington on Feb. 23 and 24 on the Sahara dispute.
The meetings, attended by U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura and senior U.S. officials, focused on the situation on the ground and ways to lock in de escalation as a gateway to any progress in negotiations between the parties, the sources told Hespress.
Washington’s message, as described by the sources, was that a serious political track requires stability in the field first. The United States pressed for a practical return to the ceasefire as an initial confidence building step, the sources said, arguing that talks without preconditions cannot advance if the security environment remains tense.
The sources said the U.S. approach was also aimed at reducing pressure on the United Nations mission MINURSO, whose operating environment has been strained since the Polisario Front said in November 2020 it no longer considered itself bound by the ceasefire.
The United Nations said late February that recent talks on the Moroccan Sahara held in Washington opened the door to deeper discussions but stopped short of any breakthrough, adding that major work is still needed on the core issue of self-determination.
“The negotiations saw in-depth discussions, taking as a basis Morocco’s autonomy proposal,” U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters, referring to the plan backed by Rabat and cited in United Nations Security Council Resolution 2797 adopted in 2025.
He described the talks as “encouraging,” but quickly added that they are far from resolving the dispute.
The Washington consultations come as the U.N. process remains stalled. De Mistura was appointed in 2021 to revive U.N. efforts, but rounds of talks have struggled to produce a new framework accepted by all sides.
The dispute has shaped regional diplomacy for decades and remains on the U.N. agenda, with the Security Council renewing MINURSO’s mandate annually.
The sources told Hespress that discussions in Washington treated de escalation as a non negotiable starting point.
They said the U.S. position sought to establish the ceasefire as the priority for the next phase, framing compliance as a measure of seriousness and a condition for sustaining U.N. engagement on the file.
The sources said the next stage will depend on the parties’ response, particularly whether commitments translate into practical adherence on the ground. They described the ceasefire as the central entry point for restarting a productive political process and creating conditions for negotiations under U.N. auspices.
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