US ‘punishing’ Pakistan PM Imran Khan for Moscow visit, says Russia

The political turmoil in Pakistan has become the new flashpoint in global politics as Russia has alleged that United States is “punishing” Prime Minister Imran Khan for visiting Moscow earlier this year when the invasion of Ukraine was around the corner.

Ata press briefing, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused US of interfering in the internal affairs of Pakistan.

Immediately after the announcement of the working visit of Imran Khan to Moscow on February 23-24 this year, the Americans and their Western associates began to exert rude pressure on the Prime Minister, demanding an ultimatum to cancel the trip," news agency PTI quoted Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

“This is another attempt of shameless interference by the US in the internal affairs of an independent state for its own selfish purposes. The above facts eloquently testify to this,” Zakharova said, while accusing Washington of interfering in the internal affairs of Pakistan.

Khan met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on February 25, the day when Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. he became the second Pakistan prime minister to visit Russia in the last 23 years, the last being Nawaz Sharif in April 1999.

Russia was responding to Khan’s earlier claims that a US diplomat, Donald Lu, is involved in a “foreign conspiracy” to oust his government through a no-confidence motion tabled in Parliament by the opposition parties.

Khan claimed that Lu warned the Pakistani envoy to the US, Asad Majeed, that there would be "implications" if the Pakistan prime minister survived the no-trust vote in the National Assembly.

He said minutes of the communique regarding a meeting between the ambassador of Pakistan in the US and the US officials were shared in the meeting of National Security Committee's meeting, the country's highest security body.

Also Read:No evidence of foreign conspiracy against Imran govt: Pak security agencies

However, the United States has refuted these “baseless allegations” regarding Washington’s role in the so-called “foreign conspiracy”.

At his daily news conference State Department Spokesperson Ned Price on Tuesday told reporters, "As you heard from me last week, we support the peaceful upholding of constitutional and democratic principles in Pakistan."

Watch |Gravitas: China dumps Imran Khan & the Rajapaksas

(With inputs from agencies)