On Thursday, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio arrived in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, where he met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi during an official visit.
They discussed bilateral relations and security cooperation, according to a statement released by the Iraqi government.
The discussions in the meeting focused on improving “cooperation in political and economic fields and the war on terrorism” the statement read.
According to the statement, the Italian Foreign Minister and the Iraqi Prime Minister discussed “the training of Iraqi forces under the framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), especially with the transition of the relationship with the international coalition to a non-combat role.”
Italy has been a member of the US-led international coalition against ISIS since its formation in 2014. Italy also announced the end of its combat mission in Iraq during the FM’s visit to Baghdad.
Italy’s announcement followed the US decision to withdraw all its combat forces from Iraq by the end of this year.
