Russia's Lavrov in Iraq, looks for sanctions relief

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sought relief from US sanctions and to expand energy and trade ties with Iraq in a visit to Baghdad this week. 

During his two-day trip to Baghdad that began Sunday, Lavrov met with top Iraqi officials including President Abdul Latif Rashid, Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, Parliament Speaker Muhammad Halbousi, and his counterpart Fuad Hussein. He also met with the former prime minister and head of the State of Law Coalition, Nuri al-Maliki. The latter controls a majority of seats within the Coordination Framework, the bloc that nominated the current prime minister and formed the government in alliance with Sunni and Kurdish parties. 

According to official statements, the discussion with Iraqi officials focused on three main topics: energy cooperation between the two countries, methods to avoid the US sanctions in Iraq’s dealing with Russian companies, and security cooperation. 

Energy cooperation