Russian ambassador to Iraq: ‘No objections’ to Kurdistan Region exporting gas to Europe
Elbrus Kutrashev spoke to the Kurdish news outlet Rudaw about plans to export natural gas from the autonomous part of northern Iraq to Europe in response to the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s ambassador to Iraq addressed plans to export natural gas from the Kurdistan Region to Europe in an interview yesterday.
Elbrus Kutrashev spoke with the Kurdish news outlet Rudaw about the energy-related effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He specifically addressed plans to export gas from the autonomous Kurdistan Region to Europe, saying Russia has “absolutely no objections” and that exports are a “sovereign right” for all of Iraq.
“Russia doesn’t have the right neither to object nor to approve. If they need an endorsement from our side, we’re ready to endorse it. This is an issue which Russia has nothing to do with,” Kutrashev told Rudaw. “I know about speculations in media that Russia might be objecting and so on. That’s not true.”
Russia provides the European Union with about 40% of its gas. In the interview, Kutrashev downplayed the effects Europe getting gas from elsewhere would have on the Russian Federation.
