US communicates to Pakistan its position on Ukraine: State Dept

Washington: The United States has communicated to Pakistan its position regarding Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Imran Khan reached Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We have communicated to Pakistan our position regarding Russia’s further renewed invasion of Ukraine and we have briefed them on our efforts to pursue diplomacy over war”, Price said this during a press briefing on Wednesday when asked about the Pakistani premier's scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

“We believe it’s a responsibility of every responsible country around the world to voice concern, to voice objection, to what Putin appears to have in mind for Ukraine,” Price said.

Price said the United States is aware of the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s trip and underscored that responsible countries should object to Russia s actions.

“We have a longstanding partnership and cooperation with Pakistan. We view our partnership with a prosperous, with a democratic Pakistan as critical to U.S. interests. And we certainly hope, when it comes to those shared interests – the aversion of a costly conflict, the aversion of a destabilizing conflict, that every country around the world would make that point clearly in unambiguous language in their engagements with the Russian Federation,” Price said.

The United States views its partnership with Ukraine as critical to US interests, Price added.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan landed in Moscow for a two-day visit — from February 23-24 — to push for the construction of a long-delayed, multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline to be built in collaboration with Russian companies, an official said.