PM Barzani, US National Security Advisor discuss KRG-US relations

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Thursday met with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Washington, discussing US-KRG relations, recent attacks on the Region, as well as Erbil-Baghdad budget talks.

Prime Minister Barzani, heading a KRG delegation, arrived in Washington DC on Sunday, upon an official invitation from the US. The visit’s agenda features high-level meetings at the White House, the State Department, and Capitol Hill.

“Sullivan expressed appreciation for the longstanding partnership between Kurdistan and the United States and confirmed U.S. support for a strong and economically viable Kurdistan region as outlined in Iraq’s constitution,” according to a readout of the meeting from the White House.

The two leaders discussed several topics like the recent attacks on the Kurdistan Region by  Iran-aligned armed groups, as well as the recent developments regarding ongoing budget  issues between the KRG and the Iraqi government.

The White House National Security Advisor also “reaffirmed U.S. support for the KRG and Iraqi government as they work towards a durable revenue- and budget-sharing arrangement,” in a way that strengthens stability and economic progress across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

According to a KRG statement, PM Barzani thanked the US for “its support and stressed that the constitutional structure of the Kurdistan Region must be respected and the rights of the Kurdish communities must be protected and not violated.”

On Monday, PM Barzani met with the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington DC where they discussed the latest developments in Iraq, the Kurdistan Region's challenges, and US-KRG bilateral relations.

Before the meeting, Blinken praised the US’ partnership with the Kurdistan Region, reiterating Washington’s support of Erbil.

“Our support for a resilient KRG is integral to our 360-degree approach to Iraq.  And so the opportunity today to reaffirm this support, reaffirm this partnership and the work that we’re doing together I think is important and timely,” a US State Department transcript quoted Blinken as having told journalists.

The two leaders met last month on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, just a day after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) struck the Kurdistan Region’s capital of Erbil with ballistic missiles. Sullivan condemned the Iranian attack on Erbil.

PM Barzani’s visit comes shortly after Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court ruled that the KRG must hand all its oil and non-oil revenues to the federal government, as well as ordering the “nationalization” of the salaries of the Region’s employees, transferring the responsibility of paying the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants from Erbil to Baghdad.