The mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) expired at midnight on Saturday, after the Security Council failed on Friday to agree on its future: a US draft was vetoed by Russia and a rival Russian text failed to win the nine votes needed.

Secretary-General António Guterres said the departure of the mission “does not abrogate” the Sahrawi people's “inalienable right to self-determination”, in a statement delivered by his spokesperson. Russia vetoed the US draft despite support from 11 of the 15 Council members, including France and the United Kingdom; the US text would have extended the mission for a year, removed “referendum” from its name and made Morocco's autonomy proposal the only basis for further talks. When the mandate ended, the mission was headquartered in Laayoune, with nine team sites — four west of the sand wall and five east of it — and a liaison office in Tindouf, with about 200 civilian staff, military observers and staff officers from over 35 countries. Morocco's royal palace said that Rabat's “voluntary commitment” to the ceasefire would not change with the end of the mission, following a meeting chaired by King Mohammed VI with the prime minister, a royal adviser and the army chief — according to Reuters, in a text republished by Yahoo News Malaysia. The same statement called the fact that the mission was not renewed a “significant development” that withdraws the issue from the Security Council's consideration. Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita told state media that Rabat's next step would be to remove Western Sahara from the UN's decolonization committee, saying Rabat had the support of two-thirds of UN member states.