Russia remains committed to its plans to create a free trade zone with North African countries, including Morocco. This commitment was confirmed by statements from Anton Kobyakov, advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, held on November 9 and 10 in Sochi, as reported by several Moscow-based media outlets. This initiative was first announced in August 2023 by President Putin during a meeting with members of his government. «We are preparing agreements on a free trade zone with Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. That's the whole of North Africa. There are many more points of development on the continent, and there are some very interesting countries», he said. Morocco and Russia signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2002, which was later strengthened in 2016 during King Mohammed VI's visit to Moscow, with the signing of a Declaration on the Deepened Strategic Partnership.
