Iraqi foreign minister to discuss Kurdistan, oil projects in Moscow

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iraqi counterpart Ibrahim al-Jaafari will meet in Moscow on 23 October to discuss the situation in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Moscow is for constructive dialogue between Baghdad and Kurdistan, the ministry added.

During al-Jaafari's visit to Moscow on 23-25 October, the minister will also take part in the meeting of the Iraqi-Russian intergovernmental commission with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin.

They plan to discuss projects of Russian oil and gas companies in Iraq during the meeting, the statement said.

Iraqi oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi said earlier on Saturday he had sought clarification from Russia's biggest oil company Rosneft about contracts it signed with Kurdistan.

Rosneft "assured that the contracts are preliminary and not ready for implementation," the minister said in Baghdad. Rosneft had agreed on Thursday to take control of Iraqi Kurdistan's main oil pipeline, boosting its investment in the region.