During a rare visit to Baghdad on Monday, Ukraine’s top diplomat rejected Iraq’s offer to intervene between Russia and Ukraine in an effort to put an end to the war in Europe. Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, reaffirmed his nation’s stance that it would not take part in peace negotiations unless Russia left all of Ukrainian territory.
China Acting As Middle Man
The Russian government wants Kyiv to recognise the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia in September as well as Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014. These requests have been rejected by Ukraine, which is adamant that no discussions with Russia would take place until all occupied territories have been liberated by Russian forces.
Kuleba met with Fuad Hussein, his Iraqi equivalent, in that country. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, it had been 11 years since a Ukrainian official had visited Baghdad. It was also the first time a Ukrainian foreign minister had done so. Hussein cited Iraq’s decades of experience in hostilities, war, and hosting hostile parties for negotiations like the most recent Saudi-Iran talks.
Before the negotiations fell through, Riyadh and Tehran held multiple rounds of talks in Baghdad. Later, with China acting as a middleman, they continued, leading to last month’s declaration that the two adversaries in the region will resume diplomatic relations.
Service Of Peace
Hussein stated during a press conference on Monday that Baghdad “has experience in communication with countries that have tension between them” and “is ready to be in service of peace.” “The world, as well as the two countries, will be in danger if the war continues.”
Source: bravewords
Like much of the Middle East, Iraq historically depended heavily on grain imports from Ukraine, and since the start of the war, Iraqis have been hit hard by increased food costs.
Russia is on the offensive, which is the largest obstacle to peace, according to Kuleba, even though Ukraine sees Iraq as a nation that can establish bridges.We need Russia to concur with the obvious necessity of ending the conflict and withdrawing.
The present Iraqi administration is thought to have ties to Iran, which the United States accuses of giving Russia drones for its conflict in Ukraine. Iran has admitted deploying drones to Russia, but claims that it was prior to the conflict.
Relation With USA
Additionally, Iraq keeps tight relations with the United States, which significantly affects its financial industry. Since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, the foreign exchange reserves of Iraq have been kept at the American Federal Reserve.
Although he rejected Baghdad’s offer of mediation, Kuleba stated that Ukraine wants to improve relations with Iraq and that his visit on Monday was a part of an initiative to “reinvent Ukrainian-Iraqi relations.”
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