OREANDA-NEWS. The third ministerial international meeting on Iraq took place in Kuwait City on April 22. It was attended by the permanent UN Security Council members, Group of Eight, Gulf Cooperation Council members, Egypt, Iraq and its neighboring states, as also by the representatives of the United Nations, Arab League, European Union and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov headed the Russian delegation.

Wrapping up the meeting, participants adopted a final statement setting out priority tasks in normalizing the situation in Iraq with due regard for the role which coordinated collective steps by the international community are to play in achieving these goals. A shared commitment to the territorial integrity, unity, sovereignty and independence of Iraq was reaffirmed and the significance of achieving national reconciliation and consent was underlined.

Lavrov emphasized the significance of really launching the broadest inter-Iraqi dialogue and practical efforts to draw political parties, movements and ethnoconfessional forces in the process of developing a unified national Iraqi platform. The minister touched upon the question of a schedule for the withdrawal of foreign troops, without clarity in respect of which to radically change the situation in Iraq will be difficult.

He noted the efforts of Russia in rendering assistance to Iraq in a bilateral format, in particular, the fact that, by signing an agreement to settle Iraq’s debt in February 2008, Russia had done for the Iraqi people more than others to alleviate the debt burden.