Kuleba holds talks with his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad, invites him to visit Ukraine
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has arrived in Baghdad, where he held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, this is the first visit of the Foreign Minister of Ukraine to Iraq since 2012.
“Ukraine and Iraq are united by a long history of friendship and mutual respect. At one time, Ukrainian servicemen helped normalize the situation on Iraqi territory. Currently, the Government of Iraq supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine against the backdrop of a full-scale invasion by Russia. The telephone conversation between the leaders of our states last week gave a significant impetus to the activation of the bilateral political dialogue,” Kuleba said.
He stressed that he arrived in Baghdad to “open the doors to new opportunities in the bilateral relations between Ukraine and Iraq, and fill the relationship with new practical content.”
In Baghdad, Kuleba invited Fuad Hussein to visit Ukraine.
The Minister told his Iraqi counterpart about the efforts of the Ukrainian Defense Forces to repel Russian aggression and liberate the occupied territories, and also paid special attention to the Peace Formula of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The foreign ministers separately discussed the export of Ukrainian grain.
In addition, the ministers agreed to hold consultations at the level of a number of ministries of Ukraine and Iraq in the near future in order to intensify cooperation in the field of trade, education and digitalization.
They also agreed to hold political consultations of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, as well as at the fifth meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation. The previous meeting of the commission was held in 2012.
Kuleba's visit takes place in the context of the implementation of the agreements reached during a telephone conversation between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Sabbar Al-Sudani on April 10.
