• US–UN hosted Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and Polisario to advance UNSC Resolution 2797; no outcomes announced.
• Resolution 2797 endorses Morocco’s autonomy plan as the basis for talks, moving the UN process away from a referendum model.
• US mediation may also seek regional security cooperation and limit China/Russia’s influence, though this is not yet officially and publicly endorsed.

On 8–9 February 2026, senior delegations from the United States and the United Nations convened talks in Madrid involving representatives of Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, and the Polisario Front. According to official statements from the US Mission to the UN and the UN Spokesperson, the purpose of the meetings was to advance the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2797 (2025).

The Madrid meetings mark the first time since the 2019 Geneva round tables that all four actors have participated directly in this configuration. No concrete outcome or final agreement has been made public. Both US and UN officials have indicated that further discussions are expected, but emphasized that details will be shared only once the results are firm. Key participants reportedly included Massad Boulos (Senior Africa Adviser to President Trump), Michael Waltz (US Ambassador to the United Nations), and Staffan de Mistura (UN Personal Envoy for Western Sahara).

Broader Context

Adopted on 31 October 2025, Resolution 2797 represents a notable shift in the UN framework on Western Sahara. For the first time, the Security Council explicitly endorsed Morocco’s 2007 autonomy plan—expanded and refined in recent years—as the realistic basis for negotiations.

This evolution follows several years of growing diplomatic support for Morocco’s position, including the 2020 US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara, subsequent endorsements by France, Spain, and other states, and the deterioration of the security situation since the ceasefire's breakdown in late 2020. Within this context, the UN process has increasingly moved away from the long-stalled referendum model toward a negotiated political settlement anchored in autonomy.

It could be assumed, that the US facilitation of direct talks—bringing Algeria to the table as a full participant rather than an observer, and centering negotiations on Morocco’s sovereignty-framed autonomy plan—could serve as a diplomatic lever to: encourage greater regional security cooperation against Islamist extremism, create incentives for Algeria to prioritize pragmatic engagement over ideological support for full independence, and limit the space for non-Western powers like China or Russia to gain strategic footholds in the Maghreb.

Meanwhile, official statements frame the talks strictly within the UN-led political process for Western Sahara. Algeria and the Polisario continue to reject any implication of Moroccan sovereignty, and no party has publicly linked the discussions to counterterrorism or great-power competition. The lack of detailed outcomes means the real impact (if any) will only become clear in subsequent rounds (rumored for Washington in May 2026). Multiple objectives for the US—ending a frozen conflict, strengthening bilateral ties, projecting US leadership—can coexist without one being the sole driver.

Idriss Linge