'Inaccurate': Pakistan denies sending weapons to Ukraine amid Moscow-Kyiv war

Reports have emerged in the media that accuse Pakistan of sending weapons to Kyiv discreetly via European Ports. However, Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch has denied those reports, labelling them 'inaccurate'. Without providing any robust evidence, Baloch dismissed Pakistan's involvement in the conflict, calling the reports "rumours".

Pakistan-made military weapons have been flowing into Ukraine via the European states as a gateway, which is used by Kyiv's forces to counterattack and kill the Russian troops. Kremlin has been increasingly vocal about such “destructive” moves, deriding the countries that have been pumping more weapons into Kyiv and exacerbating the war. 

Putin's warnings to countries on pumping weapons: 'A destructive line'

Russia's President Vladimir Putin had launched a scathing attack on the weapons-sending countries for crossing  “a destructive line” and placing their “bet on the intensification of hostilities" as they continue to act as war sponsors ramping up supplies of weapons and military equipment, worsening the regional conflict. Pakistan, which boasts of diplomatic relations with the US and Russia alike, may have been a party to fuelling the hostilities contradictory to India's much-touted "neutral" stance. India, on the other hand, called for dialogue and diplomacy as "the only way forward" to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had sought lndia's help in presenting a “peace formula", as he hailed New Delhi's approach. It is to be noted that India has been a diligent ally to both Russia's President Putin and Ukraine's President Zelenskyy, as well as the United States."I count on India’s participation in its implementation of peace formula," Zelenskyy had declared on Twitter, adding that he also wished PM Narendra Modi a successful G20 presidency.

Conveying India's peace efforts, PM Modi had “strongly reiterated” his call for an immediate end to hostilities in Ukraine. Meanwhile, NATO member Turkey's presidency also echoes a stance similar to India, saying: “President Erdogan reiterated that Turkey is ready to facilitate and mediate the establishment of a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine.”

As Pakistan's economy is in tatters, and the country is reeling under record-high inflation, fast-depleting foreign reserves, high fuel prices, and rejection from the IMF delegation for loans to bail out of the financial crisis, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's administration reportedly resorted to extracting profits from weapons sale to embattled and war-ravaged Ukraine.

Pakistan 'exploiting conflict to maximize profits'

Russia's Federal News Agency, Riafna, carried a lengthy report slamming Pakistan for "making money off" the ongoing war. Pakistani defense firms are "exploiting the conflict to maximize profits," the Russian agency noted, questioning India's neighbour's moral, ethical, and geopolitical standing. It claimed that the CEO of Kestral, Liaqat Ali Beig embarked on numerous trips to Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and other European countries in 2022, May to expand its operations.

The Russia-based agency lambasted Pakistan for hosting the UK on the Noor Khan airbase in Rawalpindi to supply weapons to Ukraine. Pakistan has been acting as an "air brigade" in the war for its own profit-making interests, Riafna reported. Countless lives of soldiers on both the Russian and Ukrainian sides have been lost to the war since February 2022. It is learned that Pakistan may be vouching for Ukraine's support in the upgradation of its aging Mi-17 helicopter fleet. French newspaper Le Monde also made similar claims in September, last year. 

Pakistan's ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Russia. Credit: twitter/@KremlinRussia_E

Just hours after Russia's President Vladimir Putin had ordered a "special military operation" in Ukraine on February 24, Pakistan's ex-Premier Imran Khan became the first foreign minister and the country's first premier in 23 years to rush to Moscow and endorse diplomacy on behalf of the South Asian nation. Ironically, Khan had also slammed the US and its allies, and the western military Alliance NATO for allegedly provoking a conflict. Pakistan had since dwindled in its diplomacy between the Americans, Ukrainians, and Russians. “Pakistan maintains a policy of non-interference in military conflicts," the country's foreign ministry spokesperson claimed during a regular press briefing on Thursday. "We export defense stores to other states based on strong End Use and no re-transfer assurances,” she furthermore added.