ERBIL /Iraq/, October 7. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in the capital of Iraq’s Kurdish Autonomy, Erbil, for a meeting with the region’s officials.

Earlier on Monday Lavrov held talks with his Iraqi counterpart Mohammed Ali Alhakim, Parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Alhalboosi and Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

Iraq’s Kurdish Autonomy in 2017 tried to unilaterally proclaim independence, but this intention failed to meet with support from world powers. As a result of negotiations the Kurds and the central authorities of Iraq managed to come to terms on the rights of the autonomy’s population and the rules of sharing oil export revenues, so the conflict was defused by and large, but some contradictions between the parties have remained to this day.

Russia traditionally supports good relations with the Kurds in Iraq and elsewhere and stands for ensuring their cultural and linguistic rights, as well for giving them a say in running the country, and is opposed to unilateral actions for declaring independence and redrawing borders.

Unsettled foreign economic activity issues between Baghdad and Erbil have affected the operation of Russian companies. In 2018, the central authorities established a rule Russia’s oil company Rosneft operating in Kurdistan should carry out all work at the local oil fields through Baghdad, and not the local Kurdish authorities.

The leaders of Iraq’s Kurdish Autonomy represent the Barzani clan. The informal leader is an old-timer of Kurdish politics, Masoud Barzani. The autonomy’s president is his nephew Nechirvan Barzani, and prime minister, Masoud’s son Masrour Barzani.