Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed strong Moscow-Baghdad ties, underlining growing trade with Iraq.

"Iraq is our long-standing and reliable partner in this region,” Putin said during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday.

He further noted that relations between the two countries have been developing “rather successfully" despite global economic complications and difficulties in the Middle East region.

"The overall trade turnover between Russia and Iraq may not be very big, but it has grown ten-fold in the past two years," the Russian president said.

He emphasized that the volume of Russian investment in the Arab country stands at billions of dollars, adding that Moscow and Baghdad have been cooperating in both "civilian and military-technological fields.”

For his part, the Iraqi premier, said that his country seeks to boost relations with Russia in defense as well as oil and gas sectors.

He further expressed hope that his visit to Russia would help the fight against terrorist Takfiri ISIL militants operating in Iraq and the region.

Earlier in the day, Abadi held a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, during which he urged Moscow to further help the Arab country in the battle against the ISIL terrorists.

Abadi also stated that he decided to go ahead with his visit to Russia “despite recommendations by some forces to cancel this trip.”

The northern and western parts of Iraq have been in chaos since ISIL started its campaign of terror in early June 2014. The terrorists are in control of the city of Mosul, the second largest city of Iraq, and also the strategic city of Ramadi.

Since then, Iraq’s army has been joined by Kurdish forces, and Shia and Sunni volunteers in operations to flush ISIL terrorists out of the areas they have seized.

SSM/KA/HMV