ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday appreciated Saudi Arabia for its efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the country’s foreign office spokesperson said, a day after the kingdom hosted senior officials from at least 40 nations in a bid to find common ground and end hostilities between the two warring parties.
Saudi Arabia hosted a two-day meeting over the weekend in the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah, where officials from 40 countries, including US, China, and India participated. Ukraine and its allies hope the discussions would lead to an agreement on key principles for a peaceful end to the conflict raging on since over a year.
According to reports, Ukraine proposed its widely-expected 10-point peace formula during the meeting.
“Pakistan supports all efforts that are focused on bringing peace and dialogue between Russia and Ukraine, and in this respect, we welcome all efforts, including the effort by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to help find some common ground,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters during her weekly media briefing.
Baloch said Pakistan has always called for peace between the two warring factions and has been supporting all efforts aimed at finding a negotiated, peaceful settlement of this dispute.
“We believe that peace between Ukraine and Russia is key for stability and peace in the region and beyond, and for the inflation in energy and food that we are all facing,” she added.
Pakistan has not condemned Russia since it invaded Ukraine last year in February, though it raised concerns over the war and urged China and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to mediate and resolve the crisis.
Last month, the South Asian country hosted Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, for two days and discussed ways and means to enhance bilateral cooperation in different fields.
Pakistan has also expressed concerns that the dispute between the two countries— and resulting supply chain disruptions— has led to an increase in fuel and food prices around the globe. Islamabad has actively engaged Kiev and Moscow in its bid to ensure Russia restores the Black Sea Grain Initiative— a deal brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkiye— which ensured the safe export of Ukrainian food grains to developing countries.
