Russia welcomes deal on U.S. troop pullout from Iraq – Novosti

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Russia welcomes the new agreement between the U.S. and Iraq on the withdrawal of American troops, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday, according to Novosti News Agency. “The agreement was reached yesterday in Baghdad after several months of talks. It stipulates that U.S. troops must withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, and complete a full withdrawal from the country by December 31, 2011,” the agency reported. “The timetable for American troops’ withdrawal from Iraq in the document can only be welcomed. Russia has consistently called for this since the very start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003,” Novosti quoted Andrei Nesterenko. He said the gradual withdrawal is a vital condition for stabilizing the situation in the war-torn country. MH (P)/SR 1