Bestoon Khalid conducted an interview with Russian ambassador to Iraq Elbrus Kutrashev on May 10, 2022, questioning Russia's position on the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) ambitions to export natural gas to Europe.
The interview came after KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani's visit to the United Kingdom, in which he discussed energy exports with British Prime Minister Borris Johnson to reduce Europe's energy dependency on Russia.
During the interview, Kutrashev said "Russia has absolutely no objections" and that exports are a "sovereign right" for all of Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region.
"Russia doesn’t have the right neither to object nor to approve. If they need an endorsement from our side, we’re ready to endorse it. This is an issue which Russia has nothing to do with," Kutrashev stated. "I know about speculations in media that Russia might be objecting and so on. That’s not true."
Read more: https://www.rudaw.net/english/interview/11052022