ISLAMABAD: Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his willingness to meet Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and reiterated his desire to deepen the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
On Thursday, Premier Shahbaz Sharif met with a delegation from Russia, led by Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov. During the meeting, the delegation discussed ways to strengthen the relationship between Islamabad and Russia and the development of bilateral ties.
Earlier in September, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Prior to that meeting, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also visited Russia.
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However, during the meeting, the premier and the delegation discussed bilateral trade, investment, and economic issues.
The delegation delivered a message from Putin to Prime Minister Shahbaz in which he described Pakistan as an important partner of Russia in Islamic countries and South Asia. He expressed his interest in deepening bilateral ties between the two countries.
Furthermore, the delegation also discussed the possibility of providing oil and gas to Pakistan on a long-term basis, and reviewed the status of the gas pipeline.
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On December 15th, the Foreign Minister denied rumors of Pakistan importing Russian oil.
“As far as Russia is concerned, we are not pursuing or receiving any discounted energy, but we are facing an extremely difficult economic situation, inflation, and high pump prices,” he said.
Admitting Pakistan’s grave energy crisis, he said: “We are exploring various avenues to expand our sources of energy,” he said, adding that “any energy from Russia will take a long time for us to develop.”
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