Iraqi Vice President Nouri al-Maliki had a lot on his mind when he paid a three-day visit to Moscow last week. He had a busy agenda that included high-level negotiations with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russian Federation Council (Senate) Speaker Valentina Matvienko and President Vladimir Putin.

Diplomatic protocol did not call for a meeting with Putin, but the fact that the Iraqi politician met with Russia’s head of state points to the unique character of the visit.

Another striking feature of Maliki’s trip was that it was arranged not by the Russian Foreign Ministry, but by the Senate. Matvienko has been quite active politically in recent months. It can be assumed that the organizers were unsure whether Putin himself would grant an audience to Maliki — so their meeting testifies to the Russian president’s keen interest in Iraqi affairs.

Speaking about the visit’s objectives, the Iraqi vice president told RIA Novosti news that during the negotiations he would focus “on the need to activate Russia's role in the region, particularly in Iraq, and to intensify economic relations in the fields of electricity, energy and trade."