Iraq’s premier visiting Moscow

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani on Tuesday arrived in Moscow on an official visit to Russia, where he is expected to meet with the country’s top officials.

The Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation and Special Presidential Representative on the Middle East, Mikhail Bogdanov, received the premier alongside a top Iraqi delegation, Kurdistan 24's Moscow-based correspondent Khoshawi Mohammed reported.

Al-Sudani is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he will discuss regional security, the Middle East, logistics, and energy issues on the first day of the visit.

The Iraqi official’s visit to the country is the first of its kind in 11 years.

The visit also comes as the premier has been extended another invitation to visit the White House and meet with President Joe Biden, as US officials had told the premier in New York recently. 

Lavrov visited Baghdad in February and met with the country’s top leaders, including al-Sudani.

Baghdad and Moscow share economic ties in various fields, including the energy sector.

Iraq initially refrained from taking a position on the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war, calling for resolving the conflict through peaceful dialogue.

The country later favored a resolution at the UN General Assembly in February, calling for an end to the war.