President Barzani to meet US President Trump at Davos summit
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani has announced he will meet US President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, which begins on Tuesday.
Barzani announced his attendance at the forum in Davos, Switzerland in a statement released on Sunday.
“On the sidelines of the summit, President Nechirvan Barzani will hold meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and the United Nations’ Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The President is also expected to meet with a number of other world leaders, ministers and high ranking officials.,” the statement said.
“In the meetings, the President is expected to focus on strengthening Kurdistan Region’s relations with the international community and to convey the policies and position of Kurdistan Region on regional and world affairs.,” the statement continued.
Barzani will be speaking at a panel at Davos titled “An Unsettled Middle East”, the statement further added.
Scheduled for January 21 to January 24, this year’s summit is themed “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World”. It brings the world’s political leaders together with kingmakers of some of the world’s biggest corporations.
According to the WEF, the 2020 meeting is slated to be “among the most sustainable international summits ever held”, with focus on the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Sunday’s announcement sets a time and place for a Barzani-Trump meeting, after the KRG leader told al-Monitor on Thursday that there was a standing invitation to meet the US President with a date not yet set.
US and Kurdish officials have met and spoken frequently in recent weeks as Washington’s tensions verged on breaking point, following the assassination of high-profile Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on January 3. Barzani and other Kurdish leaders have insisted they do not want the Kurdistan Region to become a battleground on which US-Iran tensions play out.
Barzani announced his attendance at the forum in Davos, Switzerland in a statement released on Sunday.
“On the sidelines of the summit, President Nechirvan Barzani will hold meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and the United Nations’ Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The President is also expected to meet with a number of other world leaders, ministers and high ranking officials.,” the statement said.
“In the meetings, the President is expected to focus on strengthening Kurdistan Region’s relations with the international community and to convey the policies and position of Kurdistan Region on regional and world affairs.,” the statement continued.
Barzani will be speaking at a panel at Davos titled “An Unsettled Middle East”, the statement further added.
Scheduled for January 21 to January 24, this year’s summit is themed “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World”. It brings the world’s political leaders together with kingmakers of some of the world’s biggest corporations.
According to the WEF, the 2020 meeting is slated to be “among the most sustainable international summits ever held”, with focus on the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Sunday’s announcement sets a time and place for a Barzani-Trump meeting, after the KRG leader told al-Monitor on Thursday that there was a standing invitation to meet the US President with a date not yet set.
US and Kurdish officials have met and spoken frequently in recent weeks as Washington’s tensions verged on breaking point, following the assassination of high-profile Iranian general Qasem Soleimani on January 3. Barzani and other Kurdish leaders have insisted they do not want the Kurdistan Region to become a battleground on which US-Iran tensions play out.