FM Bilawal to visit Russia on January 29-30

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari will undertake an official visit to Moscow at the invitation of Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov from January 29-30, 2023, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in a statement.

According to MOFA, the foreign minister will hold official talks with his Russian counterpart. The two sides will deliberate upon bilateral relations and exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.

The development comes after a Russian delegation visited Pakistan to discuss the sale of discounted oil.

In a press conference, Russia’s Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov had said Pakistan will pay for crude oil purchases from Russia likely to begin in late March, in currencies of friendly countries.

Russia-Ukraine conflict

Last week, Bilawal had stressed upon Russia and Ukraine to resolve their ongoing conflict through diplomacy and dialogue.

Speaking at a discussion regarding security and coordination at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, he said “in a bid to avoid Russia-Ukraine conflict turning into a forever war, we would like to see proactive approach from both sides to pursue diplomacy in pursuit of peace while absolutely having to respond to military elements of this conflict.”

Russian gasoline to come to Pakistan

Independent Russian oil refiner Forteinvest has clinched a deal that will see Russian gasoline sent to Pakistan by land for the first time, two industry sources said on Friday, as Russian refiners seek alternative markets for motor fuels days before an EU import ban.

Forteinvest has sold to a trader an initial 1,000-tonne lot of gasoline from its Orsk plant for delivery to Pakistan and has more requests to supply gasoline, diesel and LPG to the country, the sources added.

The refined products will be shipped from the Orsk refinery in Russia’s Orenburg region near the Kazakhstan border to Afghanistan by rail and reloaded into tank trucks for delivery to Pakistan, as Russia and Pakistan don’t have direct rail connections, the sources said.