Paris, France (KRP.org) – Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani met with French President François Hollande in Paris on Tuesday.

In their meeting at the Élysée Palace, President Hollande and President Barzani discussed the ongoing fight against ISIS terrorists and efforts to liberate the city of Mosul.

President Hollande welcomed President Barzani’s visit to Paris and reiterated his country’s support for the Kurdistan Region, in particular the peshmerga forces. He praised the role of the peshmerga in taking the fight to the ISIS terrorists. He said France would continue to provide military, humanitarian and political support to Kurdistan, and that it would also seek to gather support for Kurdistan among other European countries.

President Barzani thanked President Hollande for his continuous support and France’s aerial support for the peshmerga forces. He said President Hollande’s visit to Erbil in September was very important and showed that our people have great friends.

The two also discussed joint preparations underway by the peshmerga and the Iraqi army to liberate the city of Mosul from ISIS terrorists. They also discussed relations between Erbil and Baghdad and the recent meeting between President Barzani and Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi in Munich last week. The underlined the importance of close cooperation between Erbil and Baghdad to address the challenges facing Iraq.

President Barzani also met with French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Monday in Paris to discuss the fight against ISIS and the military needs of the peshmerga forces.