US Congress members condemn Pak PM Imran Khan's Moscow visit on day Russia invaded Ukraine

The Chairperson of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Robert Menendez, was joined by six other Congressmen in condemning Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's ill-timed visit to Moscow. Local media conveyed that they expressed their disappointment over Pakistan's announcements of bilateral agreements with Russia amid the invasion of Ukraine.

In a letter sent out to Pakistan Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan on March 16, members of Congress expressed dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Imran Khan's announcement of bilateral trade agreements with Russia amidst the Russia Ukraine war. In the letter, Congress members also expressed their disappointment with Pakistan's abstention in a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution condemning the Russian invasion.

"We are disappointed with your government's decision to abstain from the UN General Assembly's March 2 vote," a statement from the letter.

The 193-member United Nations General Assembly voted on March 2 to reiterate its support to Ukraine's sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity within internationally recognised boundaries, and to "strongly condemn" Russia's aggression against Ukraine. With 141 votes in favour, five-member states voting against, and 35 abstentions, the resolution was passed.

The letter went on to criticize Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's ill-timed visit to Moscow, asserting that it went against the international community's efforts to defend Ukraine's territorial integrity and identify Russia as the aggressor. In the letter, Congress members blamed Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for spoiling the international community's efforts to reaffirm Ukraine's territorial integrity. 

The signatories of the letter were Congress members Ted W. Lieu, Tom Malinowski, Juan Vargas, Brian Fitzpatrick, Kathy Manning and David N Cicilline.

Imran Khan's ill-timed visit to Russia

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan arrived in Russia on February 23 for a two-day visit, the first by a Pakistani Prime Minister in almost two decades, hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a special military action against Ukraine, despite last-minute requests and warnings from the West.

Khan's travel to Moscow on the eve of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been heavily panned both internationally and domestically, with some pundits even going so far as to term the visit "ill-timed" and "foolhardy." According to a media source, Pakistani security specialists suspects Khan went to Moscow without any plan in mind, frozen out as he was diplomatically by major countries. He was the first head of state of any country to attend a photoshoot with the Russian President after the war began.