Russia's Izvestia newspaper cited the Kremlin last week as saying Iraq had agreed to buy a "big" order of the tanks, which have been used in the Syria conflict.

Russian military analyst Ruslan Pukhov told the paper the deal could cover deliveries of several hundred T-90 tanks, and that the contract may exceed $1 billion.

When asked if the deal was discussed on Tuesday, Dmitry Shugaev, head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said: "It was touched upon."