WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Additionally, the two leaders discussed the urgent humanitarian situation facing Mosul ahead of the international campaign to recapture that city from the Daesh.
"The Vice President [Biden] conveyed continued US support for a unified, federal and democratic Iraq, and encouraged close cooperation between the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government as they take steps to put ISIL [Daesh] on a path to lasting defeat," the release said.
Last week, Iraqi Defense Minister Khalid Obeidi said that the government will not allow the Kurdish Peshmerga forces to participate in the Mosul operation.
On Monday, Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani said liberating Mosul without Peshmerga forces would be impossible, but said they would serve in a support role but will not enter the city.
The Daesh has controlled Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul for the past two years. Last month, the United Nations warned that the military operation to retake the city could displace 3.4 million people and cause a humanitarian crisis.
