ISLAMABAD, WNAM REPORT: Ambassador of Russia to Pakistan has said that his country highly appreciated the efforts of the Global South, including friendly countries to find a non-military solution to the Ukrainian conflict.
China, Brazil and several African states have already demonstrated a deep understanding of the causes of the Ukrainian crisis, its geopolitical significance and the need to take Russia’s interests into account, the Russian envoy said.
Ambassador Albert P. Khorev said this while addressing a Press conference here at the Russian embassy in Islamabad.
The Ambassador said that his country’s proposals are sensible including respect for international law, rejection of the Cold War mentality, security, and the inadmissibility of unilateral sanctions.
“I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank the political and military leadership of Pakistan for consistent neutrality regarding the conflict.
Last September, at the initiative of our Chinese and Brazilian partners, the inaugural meeting of the “Group of Friends of Peace in Ukraine” was held in New York, he said.
“We noted the sincere desire of its founders to contribute constructively to a political and diplomatic settlement of the situation in Ukraine.”
On the start of the negotiation with Trump Administration , he said the Russian leadership appreciates Donald Trump’s determination to settle the Ukrainian conflict diplomatically.
“We positively assess the recent contacts with representatives of the new U.S. administration: the telephonic conversation between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump on February 12, the telephonic conversation between Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on February 15, and the Russia-U.S. talks in Riyadh on February 18.”
He said that a decision was made to launch a separate negotiating track dedicated to the Ukrainian settlement.
As the above two tracks worked successfully, there is an understanding to expand the bilateral agenda to include geopolitical issues and other regional conflicts, in particular in the Middle East, he said.
The Ambassador said that over the course of the special military operation, the Russian armed forces liberated 75% of the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, and took control of 99% of the Luhansk People’s Republic.
He said the Russian military has liberated about 63% of the territory of the Kursk region, which was invaded by Ukraine last August.
Talking on the prospects of a settlement, he said that nevertheless, Russia has never given up on a political and diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis and in June 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin put forward concrete proposals for a final settlement of the conflict.
They include the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the new Russian regions, the recognition of the new territorial realities, Kiev’s non-NATO membership, the lifting of all Western sanctions against Russia, and the guarantee of full rights for Ukraine’s Russian-speaking citizens.
Speaking on the root causes of the Ukrainian conflict, he said the Ukrainian conflict is not a regional conflict, but an element of the geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the West.
The opponent’s countries deliberately ignored Russia’s security concerns, pursued a policy of continuous eastward expansion, and dragged Ukraine into the Euro-Atlantic anti-Russian camp.
He said that opponent’s task was to destroy the common historical, economic and spiritual space of Ukraine and Russia.
The Ambassador said that today, military actions against Russia are carried out almost entirely at the expense of enemy blocks financial and military aid to Kiev, since the beginning of the special military operation, its total amount has exceeded $350 billion.
