Moscow Backs Baghdad's Counter-Terrorism Work in Iraq

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia expresses solidarity with the Iraqi government in their efforts to eliminate terrorist threat in the country and to normalize the situation, Lavrov said Monday.

"Russia supports the efforts that the Iraqi leadership makes to normalize the situation in the country, above all, to eradicate the terrorist threat," Lavrov said at a meeting with Maliki in Moscow.

The minister stressed the utmost importance of this work being carried out not in isolation but in the context of consolidated efforts of the international community to expunge terrorist threat in the whole region, including not only the territory of Iraq, but Syria, Libya, Yemen and other countries.

Lavrov also said that Russia was intending to further develop and increase cooperation with Iraq and trying to back Baghdad in its work on the restoration of economy and improving the capabilities of the military.

"Our businesses are beginning to more actively cooperate with Iraqi partners. Our military-technical cooperation is developing, which is helping in the efforts to fight Islamists," Lavrov said.

On July 10, the Iraqi government announced that the Daesh terror group (banned in Russia) was defeated in Mosul, one of Iraq's largest cities that terrorists claimed in 2014. The Iraqi forces began operation to liberate it in the fall of 2016.