Pak PM Imran Khan meets Russian President Putin amidst Ukraine conflict

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin met Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Kremlin on Thursday in his first face-to-face talks since the start of a special military operation in eastern Ukraine and the two leaders are expected to review the entire array of bilateral ties including energy cooperation besides exchanging views on major regional and international issues.

Khan, who arrived in Russia on Wednesday on a two-day visit - the first by a Pakistani premier in over two decades – began his engagements in Moscow by laying a wreath at ‘Tomb of the Unknown Soldier’, hours after the Russian President ordered a special military operation in eastern Ukraine, ignoring lastminute appeals and warnings from the West. President Putin is holding a meeting with Prime Minister Khan in the Kremlin, state-run TASS news agency reported.

“These are the first face-to-face talks of the Russian leader since the start of a special military operation to protect Donbass,” the agency said. The meeting between Khan and Putin to discuss issues including economic cooperation came hours after US President Joe Biden and other Western governments imposed tough economic sanctions on Russia for sending its military into parts of eastern Ukraine.Khan was expected to push for the construction of a long-delayed, multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline to be built in collaboration with Russian companies, the Pakistani media reported. —PTI