U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price in Washington, D.C., on July 14. Photo by Freddie Everett; Courtesy State Department
Reacting to P.M. Imran Khan’s ongoing visit to Moscow, spokesperson says it is incumbent on all ‘responsible’ countries to voice objection to Putin’s actions
It is the responsibility of every “responsible country around the world” to voice concerns over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday while responding to a question on how Washington was seeing Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Moscow.
“We’ve 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,” he said during a press briefing. “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,” he said, adding that Washington hoped that those “shared interests” of avoiding a destabilizing conflict would be communicated in “unambiguous language” in every country’s engagements with Russia.
To a follow-up question on whether the U.S. was reading the visit as Khan “indirectly endorsing” Putin, Price demurred and said this was a question for the Pakistani government. “I’m just not in a position to offer an assessment on the timing of foreign counterparts’ travel to another country,” he added.
Prime Minister Khan reached Moscow on Wednesday night for a two-day official visit—the first such visit by a Pakistani leader in 23 years. According to the Foreign Office, the premier is scheduled to meet the Russian president, as well as Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, with an aim toward pushing for expediting the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline and facilitating bilateral cooperation on the economy. It is unclear if these projects would be impacted by the sanctions that Western nations have now imposed on Russia in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
In an interview with Newsweek Pakistan ahead of his trip, the prime minister had hoped that the conflict could be avoided, and warned of its consequences on the global community, including through higher fuel prices.