MOSCOW, March 19 /TASS/. Iraq is grateful to Russia for its unfailing assistance, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said at talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday.

In his opening remarks, Lavrov said that it was doubly pleasant for him to receive al-Jaafari in Moscow on his first visit to the Russian capital.

"Everybody knows you as a prominent Iraqi politician. You have held many key positions in government and parliament," Lavrov said.

"We are sure that our experience and profound academic knowledge of history will help your country to resolve its problems and contribute to reaching settlement in the region," the Russian foreign minister stressed.

Lavrov noted that he was looking forward to an interesting discussion that would dwell on the state of bilateral relations.

Al-Jaafari said that during his trips around the globe he could see with his own eyes the influence which Russia had had on world history and culture and what noticeable contribution it had made.

"I would like to thank you for supporting Iraq in many areas, including economy and politics. I would like to thank you for the words in Iraq’s favor pronounced from very high rostrums. Those words were well-weighed what we highly appreciate," the Iraqi foreign minister said.

"We highly value Russia’s unfailing stance in favour of helping our country," al-Jaafari went on to say.

"Our relations have a solid basis. About 400 agreements and memorandums were signed in the previous period. Despite embracing many aspects of cooperation, they still do not correspond to the current level of interaction in full measure," the Iraqi minister said.