Medvedev, Iraqi premier discuss military-technical cooperation
MOSCOW. Oct 10 (Interfax) - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his Iraqi colleague Nuri al-Maliki discussed the Iraqi acquisition of Russian weaponry in Moscow on Tuesday.
"The defense minister is accompanying us. Arms procurements were discussed," al-Maliki said in an interview with Interfax on Wednesday.
"We wish to buy non-strategic armaments from Russia. Such weapons are used against terrorists and in self-defense. These include air defense launchers to protect the Iraqi airspace, light and medium weapons and counter-terrorist aircraft. We also reached an agreement on a civil air route between Moscow and Baghdad," he said.
"We will discuss the same theme with Russian President Vladimir Putin, because our trip aims to restore friendship between our peoples," al-Maliki said.
Al-Maliki said Medvedev and he had agreed to the need to restore Iraqi-Russian relations.
"The motto of our visit is the restoration and strengthening of the former relationship. We will discuss bilateral cooperation and strengthening of political and economic relations. Bilateral economic relations already exist," he said.
"We want Russian companies to be active in energy and oil projects; we want them to participate in electric power and pipeline projects and in projects suspended due to the military operations in Iraq. We wish to restore these projects and carry them on," al-Maliki said.
The Iraqi prime minister said he was accompanied by a delegation of Iraqi businessmen. "We wish to establish relations with Russian companies, so that Russian companies return to Iraq, make investments and participate in various projects," he said.
He noted the wish of the Iraqi authorities to develop trade with Russia. The Iraqi trade minister joined the delegation with that purpose.
The full text of the al-Maliki interview will be published at www.interfax.ru and www.interfax.com.