ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Monday stressed the need for Erbil and Baghdad disputes to be resolved in accordance to the constitution and the articles of the Federal Budget Law.

“Both sides discussed service files related to the interests of all citizens, as well as the best ways to organize the mutual obligations between the federal government and the Region in accordance with the principles of the constitution and what has been approved in the Federal General Budget Law,” read a statement from the Iraqi prime minister’s office on Monday.

“The two sides stressed the importance of solidarity and joint cooperation between all political forces and parties; in order to face challenges and remove difficulties in the country,” the statement added.

Barzani arrived in Baghdad on Sunday and attended a meeting of the government forming State Administration Coalition.

The meeting came a day after the Kurdistan Region’s Council of Ministers held an irregular meeting in Erbil with Kurdish ministers in the federal government and heads of parliamentary blocs in the Iraqi parliament, discussing the next steps for the Kurdish representation in the political process in Baghdad amid ongoing budget issues, blaming the central for not sending the Region's share on time, and in full.

Years of conflict and unresolved issues between Erbil and Baghdad, and economic sanctions and pressure on Erbil by federal authorities, have pushed employees in the Region to live from paycheck to paycheck.

The KRG’s financial crisis was exacerbated in the wake of the halt of the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports following a court ruling on a dispute between Iraq and Turkey over Erbil’s independent oil sales.

Exports of the Kurdistan Region’s oil through the Turkish Ceyhan pipeline, where part of Kirkuk’s oil was also exported through, were halted in March 2023 after Ankara lost a case against Baghdad in a Paris-based arbitration court. The case accused Ankara of breaching a 1973 agreement by allowing the KRG to start selling oil independent of Baghdad.

Barzani held several meetings with other Iraqi officials on Monday, including Judge Jassem Aboud of the Federal Supreme Court and Parliamentary Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani.