Israel recalled Crimea to Russia because of Moscow's statements on the recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara. The Jerusalem Post journalist Seth Franzman wrote about this.
We are talking about the reaction of the Russian Foreign Ministry to statements about the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel. The diplomatic service expressed concerns about Washington's recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, timed to coincide with the agreement.
“Moscow’s comments run counter to its own decision to annex Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and this action is not recognized by most countries,” Franzman said.
He explained Moscow's “censure” of Washington by their strained relations. Franzman also acknowledged that, as a rule, Russia and Israel manage to work together in the Middle East region.
On December 11, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that Moscow welcomes the process of normalizing relations between Israel and Arab countries, but fears the consequences for Palestine. In addition, the Russian side called the recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara a violation of international law.
On December 10, US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Morocco had agreed to fully normalize diplomatic relations. Israel has already normalized relations with the UAE, Bahrain and Bhutan. The United States also announced the normalization of relations with Sudan.
Western Sahara has been seeking independence since the mid-1970s. Since 2007, the authorities and the local military-political organization Front Polisario have negotiated four times over the status of the region. They all ended in vain.
