MOSCOW: All eyes are on Prime Minister Imran Khan who, as part of his two-day tour to Moscow, is currently meeting President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.
Radio Pakistan said the two leaders will discuss at length every aspect of bilateral relations, in addition to the regional scenarios with particular reference to the catastrophe looming in Afghanistan.
Prime Minister @ImranKhanPTI has left for meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.#PMIKinRussia pic.twitter.com/76d7hfHbgH
— Prime Minister’s Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) February 24, 2022
The meeting comes as Russia launches an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War II, and confirmation of the worst fears of the West.
The attacks began early Thursday morning after President Putin said in a televised address that he had approved a “special military operation”.
The move followed Moscow’s recognition of rebel-held territories in Luhansk and Donetsk and said they had asked for its “help”.
During the meeting, the prime minister will also push for the construction of a long-delayed, multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline to be built in collaboration with Russian companies.
The 1,100 km (683 mile)-long pipeline, also known as the North-South gas pipeline, was initially agreed to in 2015 and was to be financed by both Moscow and Islamabad, using a Russian company to construct it.
In an interview ahead of his trip, Khan had expressed concern about the situation in Ukraine and the possibility of new sanctions and their effect on Islamabad’s budding cooperation with Moscow.
It is unclear how the latest sanctions will affect the project, which would deliver imported Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) from Karachi on the Arabian Sea coast to power plants in Punjab.
The prime minister earlier laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a memorial dedicated to the Soviet soldiers killed during the second World War.
Khan, who arrived in the Russian capital on Wednesday, visited the memorial by the Kremlin Wall and paid his respects.
The anthems of Pakistan and Russia were played on the occasion as Khan observed a moment of silence in respect for the fallen soldiers.
Khan is currently in Russia on a two-day visit, the first by a prime minister of Pakistan in over two decades.
More details to follow
