Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson, on Tuesday called out the United States for its “shameless interference” in the internal affairs of Pakistan, noted the statement issued by the Foreign Office of Russia.
“There is another attempt of shameless US interference in the internal affairs of an independent state for its own selfish purposes,” said Zakharova while pointing out that the current political situation of Pakistan leaves no doubt that the US “decided to punish the ‘disobedient’ Imran Khan.”
Zakharova further said that the Pakistan premier himself has repeatedly said that the conspiracy against him was inspired and financed from abroad, hoping that the Pakistani voters will be informed about the facts before the upcoming general elections. As per the constitution of Pakistan, the elections must be held within 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly.
The statement from the Russian Foreign Office comes after PM Imran accused US Assistant Secretary of State of Central and South Asia Donald Lu of the “threatening remarks” about his regime in a letter, which the premier had mentioned during a public rally in Islamabad on March 27.
Events as Narrated by the Russian Spokesperson:
“Immediately after the announcement of the working visit of Imran Khan to Moscow on February 23-24 this year, the Americans and their Western associates began to exert rude pressure on the prime minister, demanding an ultimatum to cancel the trip,” she said.
“When he nevertheless came to us, [Lu] called the Pakistani ambassador in Washington and demanded that the visit be immediately interrupted, which was also rejected,” she stated.
According to the Pakistani media, a high-ranking American official (presumably the same Donald Lu) in a conversation with Pakistani Ambassador Asad Majid on March 7 sharply condemned the balanced reaction of the Pakistani leadership to the events in Ukraine and made it clear that “partnerships with the United States are possible only if Imran Khan is removed from power,” Zakharova said.
She stated that the aforementioned facts were eloquent enough to testify to the US interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan.