Foreign Minister Kuleba’s visit is the first-ever Ministerial visit from Ukraine since the establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and Ukraine in 1993….reports Asian Lite News
Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba will undertake an official visit to Islamabad on July 20 and 21.
Foreign Minister Kuleba will call on the Prime Minister and hold detailed talks with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. Foreign Minister Kuleba’s visit is the first-ever Ministerial visit from Ukraine since the establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and Ukraine in 1993.
Notably, Pakistan is reeling from one of its worst economic and political crises which has impacted the masses.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance has warned of challenges originating from uncertain external and domestic economic environments, including higher inflation and external debt repayments, due to lesser foreign exchange inflows, according to Geo News.
Even though the relations between Pakistan and Russia are said to be on an upswing, Islamabad is reported to be supplying weapons and ammunition to Kyiv, according to Geo-Politik citing the report published in the Russian web portal, Riafan.
Islamabad seems to make money off the Russia-Ukraine war by supplying much-needed ammunition to Ukraine. Pakistani companies are also exploiting the ongoing conflict in maximizing their profit and expanding their operations in countries bordering Ukraine. Notably, CEO of Kestral, Liaqat Ali Beg, travelled to Poland, Romania, and Slovakia in May and June 2022.
The report claimed that Islamabad is supposedly part of an air bridge for supplying weapons to Ukraine. It is apparently using defence suppliers and contractors operating in foreign countries to channel these shipments to Ukraine.
The report revealed further that the UK is using Pakistan’s Noor Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi as a key base for the transportation of military equipment for the Ukrainian Army.This report came at a time when Pakistan-Russia relations are the upswing. On one hand, Russia has agreed to provide at least 100,000 barrels per day of crude oil to Pakistan at discounted rates while on other hand, Islamabad is supplying arms and ammunition to Ukraine, reported Geo-Politik.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has also been facing the wrath of Russia’s aggression since February 2022. A recent World Bank report has estimated it will cost Ukraine USD 411bn over the next 10 years to recover and rebuild from Russia’s war on the country, with the bill for cleaning up the rubble from devastated towns and cities standing at USD 5bn alone.
The report released earlier in March said that estimates “should be considered as minimums as needs will continue to rise as long as the war continues,” as per Al Jazeera. (ANI)