Iraqi Kurdistan hopes for further development of relations with Russia and expansion of cooperation with Russian companies in various spheres, Prime Minister of the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq Nechirvan Barzani said Friday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, Barzani held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
"We have a long history of relations with Russia. For us, arrival in St. Petersburg is a good opportunity to develop these relations in all directions, in the spheres of energy, politics, economy. We discussed this issue with the minister [Lavrov] and we will further discuss it with other officials. We have good relations with Russia, and we hope that they will become better," Barzani said after talks with Lavrov.
The Kurdish official also expressed hope to deepen cooperation with Russian companies not only in the gas and oil fields but other areas as well.
Barzani added that the delegation of the Iraqi Kurdistan held a number of fruitful meetings on the SPIEF sidelines.
Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. In Iraq and Syria, the Kurds are fighting against Daesh, outlawed in Russia, while in Turkey they are engaged in a conflict with state authorities. The Iraqi Kurdistan Region is expected to hold an independence referendum later this year.
SPIEF, held in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg between Thursday and Saturday, is a major global platform for communication between business representatives and the discussion of crucial economic issues. The Sputnik news agency is an official media partner of SPIEF.
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