Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto arrives in Moscow on maiden official visit

ISLAMABAD/MOSCOW – Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto has arrived in the Russian capital on his maiden visit, in another bid to boost bilateral ties between the two sides.

FM Bilawal was received by senior officials of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Pakistan’s ambassador to Russia Shafqat Ali Khan, and officials of the embassy.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said Mr Bhutto will visit the Russian Federation at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Both ministers are set to meet today to deliberate upon the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and to discuss regional and international issues of mutual interest.

Foreign Minister @BBhuttoZardari has arrived in Moscow on an official visit. The FM was received by senior officials of Russian Foreing Ministry, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Russia, Mr. Shafqat Ali Khan @shafqatAmbPak and officials of the Embassy.@mfa_russia @PakinRussia pic.twitter.com/JdELstMw4i

— Spokesperson 🇵🇰 MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) January 29, 2023

The PPP leader visited Moscow days after a senior Russian delegation visited the South Asian nation for an oil and gas deal.

During the Russian delegation’s visit to Islamabad, both sides inked multiple memoranda of understanding in different sectors and discussed the sale of cheap crude oil to the cash-strapped country, which has been struggling in recent times to meet its energy needs.

Pakistani top leaders visited friendly nations as the forex reserves held by its central bank plunged declining to critical $3.6 billion. Islamabad is also expecting Russia to allow it to pay for the energy imports in currencies of friendly countries.

The ties between the two sides have seen many ups and downs in light of Pakistan’s alliance with other countries mainly the US.