ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Sunday called his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba to share his “serious concern” over the intensifying Russian invasion of the East European country and urged for de-escalation.
The development came as street fighting broke out in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv and Russian troops squeezed strategic ports in the country’s south, advances that appeared to mark a new phase of Russia’s invasion following a wave of attacks on airfields and fuel facilities elsewhere in the country.
Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, was eerily quiet on Sunday after huge explosions lit up the morning sky and authorities reported blasts at one of the airports. Only an occasional car appeared on a deserted main boulevard as a strict 39-hour curfew kept people off the streets. Terrified residents instead hunkered down in homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale Russian assault.
Like many other nations, Pakistan has been busy evacuating its nationals from Ukraine to the neighboring Poland and Romania.
“Spoke with Ukrainian FM Dmytro Kuleba and shared Pakistan’s serious concern, underscoring the importance of de-escalation and indispensability of diplomacy,” the Pakistani foreign minister said on Twitter.
Qureshi appreciated the Ukrainian government for facilitating the evacuation of Pakistani nationals from the Eastern European country.
The Ukrainian foreign minister said they discussed safety of Pakistani students during the telephone call. “I stressed: the best way to guarantee their security is to force Putin to stop his war against Ukraine,” Kuleba tweeted.
The Pakistani embassy in Poland said on Sunday it had received 356 Pakistani nationals from Ukraine, who were now being transported to Warsaw.
Pakistan’s embassy in Ukraine advised students who were still stranded in Kharkiv to remain at safe locations in the city. On Sunday, Russian forces entered the city with loud gunfire and explosions resonating throughout it as Ukrainian forces fought back.
The Pakistani embassy also said it was facing “immense difficulties” in evacuation efforts due to a large number of people at the border crossing points.
