"The Iraqi minister spoke about the development of the situation surrounding the illegal deployment of a Turkish military contingent to Iraq's north and Baghdad's address to the UN Security Council on the issue," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
On December 4, Turkey deployed about 150 troops and 25 tanks to a base in the Iraqi Nineveh province, without Baghdad’s approval.
"The Russian side expressed firm support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and actions taken by Iraqi authorities in this regard in line with international law and the UN Charter," Lavrov stressed.
Earlier on Saturday, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry said it had officially filed a complaint with the UN Security Council regarding Turkey’s deployment of troops to Iraq’s north, calling on the UN to ensure an immediate withdrawal of the Turkish forces from Iraq.
According to Ankara, the aim of the troops deployment in Iraq is to provide security to Turkish soldiers deployed earlier to train Kurdish militia who are fighting the Islamic State (IS, or Daesh in Arabic), a group outlawed in Russia and other countries.
