Iraqi and U.S.officials met in Baghdad on March 11 for the first of several meetings in which U.S.-Iraqi relations and the future of U.S. troops in Iraq will be discussed.

Reuters reported, citing the Iraqi Foreign Ministry and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki did not attend the meeting.

Iraq released a statement saying that it would be holding negotiations with the United States in hopes of reaching an agreement by July concerning the presence of the U.S. military and “long-term friendly” cultural and economic relations between the two countries.