ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said that he would never have visited Moscow if he had known about the Russian attack on Ukraine.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan gave an interview to German broadcaster DW, in which he said that Russia attacked Ukraine after his arrival in Moscow and he had no idea about the attack.
During the interview, the former prime minister tried to defend his visit to Moscow and his meeting with the Russian president, saying that the visit was planned a long time ago and was aimed at improving relations between Pakistan and Russia.
“Pakistan’s relations with Russia have never been better because our country was considered part of the Western bloc during the Cold War,” he said.
Imran Khan further said that all Pakistani stakeholders were consulted about the visit when there were fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. When we heard that there were concerns about a military intervention, we consulted. Everyone sat down and considered the matter, after which our Foreign Office came to the conclusion that if we cancel the visit at this time and place, this decision would freeze our relations with Russia.
“Pakistan could not decide to postpone the visit at this time because we needed to import oil and wheat from Russia,” he said.
