BAGHDAD, February 6. /TASS/. It is critical for Russia and Iraq to protect their economic cooperation from illegal sanctions imposed by Western countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday following the talks with Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.
"In current circumstances, with illegal restrictions imposed by the US and their satellites, it is critical to preserve legitimate economic relations from illegal Western pressure, as many countries in the region are doing when, instead of using the dollar, converting to payments, including payments for oil supplies, in currencies of other trustworthy countries that care about their reputation as participants in international economic transactions," Lavrov said.
In addition, Moscow and Baghdad expect to agree on the date of the next meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation in the near future.
The minister emphasized that the parties discussed economic relations in great detail. "First, we focused on trade, economic and investment ties. As the Minister said, our oil companies have very serious investments here and far-reaching plans with their Iraqi partners. More than $13 bln has already been invested," Lavrov said.