ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call on Thursday and discussed bilateral relations, with a focus on energy cooperation.
The two leaders “discussed bilateral relations between Iraq and Russia and explored ways to enhance them to serve the mutual interests of both friendly nations,” according to a statement from Sudani’s office.
“A mutual commitment was expressed to further expand traditionally friendly and mutually beneficial ties in line with the agreements reached during the talks between” both leaders in October 2023, according to a statement from the Kremlin.
“Particular attention was paid to the implementation of major energy projects,” the statement added, noting that the two leaders also discussed “various aspects of joint work within the framework of OPEC+, which allows maintaining stability in the global oil market.”
In October 2023, Putin received Sudani in Moscow where they also discussed regional conflict in the Middle East and energy cooperation between the two countries.
In June, the OPEC+ alliance of oil-exporting countries agreed to extend their voluntary oil production cuts until the end of 2025 in an effort to stabilize global market prices.
In compliance with OPEC+ production cuts, Iraq announced in April 2023 that it was voluntarily slashing oil production by 211,000 barrels per day
Sudani’s office on Thursday also noted that they “touched on energy-related matters, highlighting the importance of coordination among all concerned countries within OPEC and the OPEC+ group to stabilize oil and gas prices.”
Iraq and the Kurdistan Region share close economic ties with Russia as a number of Russian oil companies operate both in the Region and in oilfields in southern Iraq. Lukoil, Gazprom Neft, and Rosneft are some of the major Russian oil and gas companies operating in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
In March 2022, Iraq abstained from voting against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a United Nations resolution, showing Baghdad’s willingness to maintain its relations with Moscow.
