Moscow Hails Last US Troop Exit From Iraq After Over 20 Years
Asked by reporters, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the move carries out a January 2020 decision by Iraq's parliament, which reflected the Iraqi people's “aspiration to restore and consolidate state sovereignty after the prolonged presence of foreign forces.”
“That presence had effectively continued since 2003 – from the moment of the American invasion under a completely contrived pretext, which triggered decades of instability across the wider region,” Zakharova said in a ministry statement.
She said Moscow “certainly welcomes,” the withdrawal, which shows Iraq's army and security forces are “capable of independently addressing the task of strengthening the state’s defense capability and ensuring national security.”
“They are capable, among other things, of countering the terrorist threat emanating from ISIS (Daesh) and other such organizations,” she added.
Zakharova said Russia is convinced Iraqis can withstand internal and external challenges, guaranteed by neighborly relations and coordination with regional states. She reaffirmed Russia's proposed “Collective Security Concept for the Gulf Region,” which holds that regional states, Iraq included, lead in maintaining stability.
On Wednesday, the US Defense Department said the US and coalition partners “formally concluded Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq.” It said the “orderly departure” of forces and equipment from Erbil Air Base ended the mission.
Baghdad and Washington agreed in September 2024 to wind down the coalition mission by the end of September 2026, shifting to bilateral security ties. The US-led coalition formed in 2014 after ISIS seized large areas of Iraq and Syria. Iraq declared full control of its territory in December 2017. US forces first invaded in 2003 to remove Saddam Hussein and withdrew at the end of 2011.
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