Pakistan has announced that it will not attend the Ukraine peace summit scheduled for this weekend in Switzerland.
As per local media, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said, “Pakistan stands for universal and consistent application of UN Charter principles, including non-use or threat of use of force, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, pacific settlement of disputes, and equal security for all states.”
She further added, “We reiterate our call for immediate cessation of hostilities and stress the need for diplomacy and dialogue for an early negotiated end to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.”
According to Al Jazeera, Pakistan has adopted a neutral position on Russia’s war on Ukraine, however, analysts believe that there is too much at stake, from Russian oil to Ukrainian weapons.
Meanwhile, some of the interpreters believe that Pakistan’s decision to skip the moot is influenced by China, as it has also boycotted the summit along with Russia.
Tughral Yamin, a former military official, told Al Jazeera, “Pakistan must attend the summit. It has stakes in the war. We have strong defence relations with Ukraine, whereas we are trying to build strong ties with Russia as well, which can provide us oil, so attending this makes complete sense.”
To note, more than 160 countries were invited to a summit hosted by Switzerland at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It is expected that over 90 nations will attend the peace meeting.
