Kurdish leaders on Thursday welcomed the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Head Mohamed al-Hassan and underlined the importance of dialogue to solve issues between Baghdad and Erbil.

On Thursday, President Masoud Barzani received UNAMI Head al-Hassan and the two officials addressed relations between Erbil and Baghdad and the ongoing dialogue between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi federal government in search of solutions.

In May, Iraq’s federal Ministry of Finance decided to suspend the salaries of public employees in the Kurdistan Region for this year.

Moreover, oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline have been suspended since March 2023, after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled against independent Kurdish exports.

Erbil-Baghdad talks were held between last Thursday and Tuesday to find a solution to these two issues.

On Wednesday, the KRG Council of Ministers emphasized that they are awaiting the Iraqi federal government’s approval of a recent oil agreement reached with oil company representatives after the return of the KRG’s delegation from Baghdad.

So far, Baghdad has not approved the oil agreement, nor paid the salaries of KRG public sector employees.

According to a KRG readout, during a separate meeting between KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and UNAMI Head al-Hassan, both sides agreed “on the need to resolve outstanding issues between the KRG and the federal government through dialogue and in accordance with the Iraqi Constitution.”

The meeting also focused on the importance of upholding the federal system of Iraq, the constitutional status of the Kurdistan Region, and the financial and legal entitlements of the people of Kurdistan.