What the leaders of Russia and Iraq talked about

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani in Moscow on October 10. On October 11, Putin and al-Sudani will attend the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week. Initially, the agenda was predominantly bilateral relations. But the escalation of tensions following the Hamas attack on Israel has made the conflict a priority issue.

The Russian leader described the aggravation in the Middle East as “a striking example of the failure of the policy of the United States,” which tried to monopolize a settlement in the region, but instead of looking for compromises, “put pressure on both sides” (quote from the Kremlin website). “Each time – without taking into account the fundamental interests of the Palestinian people, bearing in mind first of all the need to implement the decision of the UN Security Council on the creation of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state,” Putin said.

He added that Moscow insists on minimizing damage to civilians on both sides “to zero.” Al-Sudani told Putin that now there is “an intifada, an uprising of Palestinians demanding an end to violations of their rights” and drew attention to the “destruction of Gaza.” “We all bear responsibility, as Arab countries, as Islamic countries, and also together with Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council [ООН]a great power,” said the Iraqi prime minister.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein also flew in with al-Sudani. Before the meeting between Putin and al-Sudani, Hussein discussed with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov a new round of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Iraqi minister admitted that the active phase of the conflict could last “at least 10 days” (quote from the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry). “Continued military operations in Gaza could lead to the fire spreading and engulfing neighboring states,” he added.

The position of the Russian leadership is consistent, it has always adhered to the principle of “two states” under UN Security Council resolutions, there is no point in curtsying to Israel now, and in the context of sanctions and confrontation with the West, the Arab world is more important to Moscow than Tel Aviv, says Russian International Affairs Council expert Kirill Semenov . It is important that Putin confirmed Russia’s position and spoke for the first time after the outbreak of the conflict during the visit of the Iraqi prime minister, the expert says.

Putin and al-Sudani also discussed energy issues. “We are coordinating work within OPEC+ and doing this very successfully in order to stabilize the situation on world markets,” Putin said. Al-Sudani agreed that both Russia and Iraq play an important role in the global oil market, and their interaction should take into account the mechanisms of global supply and demand. On September 12, OPEC+ countries, as part of the deal, reduced production by 35,000 barrels per day to 22.565 million barrels per day.

Finam FG analyst Oksana Lukicheva notes that Iraq is the second OPEC country in terms of production, and it does not fall below the level of 2016. Data from the US Department of Energy show Iraq’s production in August was 4.32 million barrels per day. In addition, Lukicheva recalls, despite Western sanctions, Russian companies continue to be present in Iraq. “One of the problems of Russian companies is the difficulty of transferring revenue due to Western sanctions; perhaps Putin and al-Sudani will discuss this issue first,” Lukicheva admits.

Semenov notes that Iraq, against the backdrop of sanctions against Russia, is trying to pursue a balanced policy, without yielding to pressure from the United States, with which it also has close ties, despite the close relations between Iraq and Iran. “Iraq, of course, is a difficult partner for Russia politically because of its multi-vector nature, but Moscow as a whole can rely on Baghdad in the Middle East,” Semyonov believes.