Russia, Iraq sign agreement on military-technical cooperation - Iraqi Defense Ministry
MOSCOW. July 31 (Interfax-AVN) - Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid al-Ubaydi, who is now visiting Russia, and Alexander Fomin, the head of the Russian Federal Service on Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS) signed an agreement on military-technical cooperation between Russia and Iraq on Thursday, the Iraqi Defense Ministry has reported.
"The document was signed in the federal-level city of St. Petersburg," the Iraqi Defense Ministry said in a report posted on its website. The report is accompanied by photos from the ceremony of signing the agreement.
The Russian Defense Ministry and FSVTS have currently not commented on this information.
The Iraqi defense minister arrived in Russia on July 27.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi said on May 20 that Iraq has several contracts for the supply of weapons from Russia. He said the current situation, where Iraq is countering jihadists from the Islamic state, makes it necessary for Iraq to have several sources of weapons. According to earlier reports, Russia has urgently supplied to Iraq Su-25 attack planes, Mi-28NE and Mi-35 helicopters, heavy fire-throwing systems TOS-1A, surface-to-air systems Pantsir-S1, portable surface-to-air missile systems Dzhigit, artillery systems and their munitions and armored vehicles BRM-3M Vepr.
Russian presidential aide Vladimir Kozhin earlier said Russia will continue its military-technical cooperation with Iraq. "It mainly includes light firearms, armored vehicles, and aviation equipment," he said. The supplies are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, he said.