Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba visited Iraq on Monday for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion, seeking diplomatic support in the Middle East, a region where Moscow has cultivated close ties, Reuters reported.

“We definitely see Iraq as a country capable of building bridges,” Kuleba told a news conference alongside Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.

“We welcome all efforts to restore peace in Ukraine. A key brick must be laid at the basis of any efforts: and this basis is the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” Kuleba added, thereby repeating the repeated position of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi that Ukraine will accept peace with Russia only after liberation. all its territories.

Fuad Hussein called for a ceasefire in Ukraine, saying he also conveyed that message to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during an official visit to Baghdad in February.

Iraq called on Ukraine and Russia to sit down at the negotiating table

“We always strive to be part of the solution. Wars are stopped through negotiations and dialogue. That is why we believe in the language of dialogue,” Fuad Hussain said on Monday.

“And so when we are negotiating or talking with officials in Moscow, and Minister Lavrov was here in the same room, we mentioned the same principles and told them [rușilor] that we support the ceasefire and the start of negotiations,” he emphasized.

There are currently no peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, with Moscow insisting that Kyiv must accept the annexation of territories it claims, while Ukrainian officials say peace can only be made after the withdrawal of Russian troops from all areas of the country.

Kuleba’s visit to Baghdad came as the United States encouraged its allies and partners around the world, from South Korea and Japan to Israel, to provide support, including military support, to Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression.

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