Pakistan to consider buying discounted Russian oil if no threat of US sanctions: Miftah

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Tuesday said Pakistan would be open to buying Russian oil at cheaper rates if it was offered and if no sanctions were to be levied over such a deal.

Responding to a question in an interview with CNN's Becky Anderson if Pakistan was open to procuring cheap Russian oil just as India was doing, the finance minister said he would "surely consider" it.

However, Ismail remarked that he did not think it was possible for Pakistani banks to make arrangements to buy Russian oil, also claiming that Moscow had not offered any such discounted deals to Pakistan anyway.

A day after the EU imposed a 90% ban on Russian oil, Pakistan's Finance Minister @MiftahIsmail tells me if Russia were to offer Pakistan oil at a cheaper rate without incurring sanctions, he would consider it. pic.twitter.com/zlVY3qKdEs

— Becky Anderson (@BeckyCNN) May 31, 2022

"The previous government talked about buying oil from Russia but I think Russia is under sanctions and they haven't responded to the letter written by the previous government," he told the CNN anchor.

Ismail said with Russia being under sanctions, it was "very difficult" for him to imagine buying oil from there.