Hawrami meets deputy Russian foreign minister for talks on Kurdistan situation

The Head of Kurdistan Democratic Party's Foreign Relations Office held in-depth discussions focused on the political and security situation in the region with Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Bigdanov in Moscow.

Hemin Hawrami and Mr Bigdanov, who is also President Vladimir Putin's Special Envoy to the Middle East, stressed the enhancing bilateral ties between the two sides while they exchanged views on regional developments.

On the issue of fighting against the so-called Islamic State terrorist organisation, the two sides agreed on the necessity of eradicating them out of large swathes of Iraq and spoke of impending plans to facilitate the process. Mr Bigdanov expressed praise to the Kurdish Peshmerga for courageously battling against extremists and scoring a number of achievements.

Their meeting concluded with talks of the relationship between Erbil and the central government of Baghdad, where diplomatic efforts to ease tensions are still at a stalemate and what action is being taken to resolve all outstanding problems.