A member of the Iraqi interim Governing Council (GC), Samir Mahmoud al-Sumaidy, said on 22 December that Russia had agreed to write off about 65 per cent of Iraq's debt. The announcement came after talks between a GC delegation and senior Russian officials in Moscow. '[Russian President] Putin has made an offer of Russia exempting Iraq from 65 per cent of their debts,' Sumaidy told reporters after meetings at the Kremlin. 'That is a decision made by Russia to be confirmed within the Paris Club.' GC member, Jalal Talabani, confirmed that Russia had offered to drop 65 per cent of Iraqi debt. 'Russia said it is willing to consider the write-off of the rest of the debt if it received beneficial treatment in terms of oil contracts,' Talabani said.