Iraqi PM arrives on Russia visit despite warning of "some forces"

MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has arrived on a visit to Russia despite the warning of "some forces" against the trip, he said at the meeting with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday. "We have arrived in Russia despite the recommendations of some forces to abandon the trip," he said. "We highly appreciate the relations with Russia and believe that they are promising and our visit directly proves this," the prime minister stressed. "We are set to develop ties in all the areas, including the military and technical cooperation, economic cooperation and the oil and gas sphere," he said. The Iraqi prime minister congratulated Medvedev and all the Russian people with the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, "the Victory over the fascist and Nazi forces." He expressed hope that the sides "will be able to gain victory by joint efforts over the new forces that are like those that you have defeated." He explained that these are first of all the terrorism threats. Read more