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360772
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 10:25
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Russian, Iraqi foreign ministers to talk Middle East situation amid fight against IS

MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari are due to hold talks in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the current situation in Iraq and Syria amid the continuing fight against the Islamic State (IS) militants and also key international and regional issues, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "During the negotiations, the foreign ministers will focus on the tasks of developing the traditionally friendly Russian-Iraqi relations," the ministry said. "The close cooperation of our countries is especially needed today when the Middle East is undergoing fundamental changes and facing major challenges, primarily from the extremist forces," it said. Moscow is convinced that amid the current difficult conditions for Iraq all the states that are aware of the terrorism spread threat should show solidarity with the country in the fight against the growing threat. "Russia supports the Iraqi leadership’s efforts and will continue providing it with practical assistance," the ministry said. "We believe that for countering terrorist challenges efficiently the urgent task is to promote an inclusive inter-Iraqi dialogue with the goal of normalizing the situation and achieving national reconciliation in the interests of ensuring consent of all the Iraqi political forces and ethno-confessional groups of the country’s population," the statement reads. At talks in Moscow, the foreign ministers also plan to consider in detail the issues of boosting trade and economic and investment cooperation as well as stepping up the Russian-Iraqi ties in the oil and gas and energy spheres. "The main focus will be made on the importance of the participation of Russian companies in implementing major investment projects in Iraq taking into account a rich experience accumulated over the past years," the ministry said. The sides will also discuss other directions of bilateral cooperation including the military and technical, educational and other spheres. Al-Jaafari is paying a two-day visit to Moscow at the invitation of Lavrov that will continue through March 20. This is the first time the Iraqi minister, who led the country’s transitional government in 2005-2006, is visiting Russia. He also plans to meet with the co-chairman of the Russian part of the intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, to discuss a range of issues of bilateral cooperation and boosting the commission’s activity. Russia hopes that the upcoming visit will help to strengthen and develop the traditionally friendly relations of mutual understanding and diversified cooperation between the two countries. Read more

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