Ukrainian FM arrives in Pakistan today on first-ever visit

ISLAMABAD: Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and Ukraine in 1993, a ministerial visit from Kiev will take place for the first time when its Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba would arrive on July 20-21.

“Foreign Minister Kuleba will call on the prime minister and hold detailed talks with his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,” announced the Foreign Office on Wednesday.

“Pakistan and Ukraine enjoy close and cordial relations, particularly in the fields of trade, investment, agriculture and higher education,” said the statement.

The visit is expected to contribute to further strengthening of bilateral ties between the two countries, added the FO statement.

All eyes would be on Islamabad when the visit takes place at a time when a war between Ukraine and Russia continues, with Pakistan maintaining a neutral stand, calling for negotiations for peace and an end to the humanitarian crisis. Pakistan is lately improving its bilateral relations with Russia, including trade ties.

Pakistan has multiple times abstained from voting in the United Nation’s against Russia, seeking support for call for withdrawal of troops from Ukraine, and never condemned Russia.

Last year, FM Bilawal reiterated Pakistan’s neutrality on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, saying that Islamabad was not taking sides. “We would not be taking sides as we are sick and tired of wars and conflicts,” the minister said in an interview with Al Jazeera.

In a meeting in Munich in February this year, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba for the first time on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany. Bilawal held an in-depth exchange of views on a range of issues to further enhance bilateral cooperation for benefit of their people.

While Pakistan has for years imported wheat from Ukraine, military-technical collaboration remains one of the main pillars of the Ukrainian-Pakistani relations since 1996. A retired general has always been posted to Kyiv as Pakistan’s ambassador.