Current Final

Tag: Russia

  • ‘No MoU on wheat and oil with Khan’s govt’: Russian ambassador to Pak

    ‘No MoU on wheat and oil with Khan’s govt’: Russian ambassador to Pak

    Danila Ganich, Russia’s ambassador to Pakistan, has said that in his opinion the Russian visit could have been “one of the factors” for the removal of former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan from power but added that it was a sheer coincidence that Khan happened to be in Russia the day the Ukraine war broke out.

    “I think that was one of the factors but I also know that it was a sheer coincidence that he happened to be in Moscow on that very day,” said Ganich when asked if Khan’s government was removed from power because of his visit to Russia in an interview with Aaj News‘ senior anchorperson Shaukat Piracha.

    “The proof of that is just the fact that he was in Moscow on that very day, had he known that the operation would start on that very day, definitely he would have tried to refrain from being there on that very day. So that was a coincidence.”

    “As an ambassador of a foreign country I prefer not to interfere in your internal affairs.”

    “I do know that Pakistani [authorities] concluded that there was no conspiracy. So here I would like to say period. I cannot take sides here, especially when your judge concluded that there was no conspiracy,” said Ganich.

    Ganich said that Russia and Pakistan did not conclude any memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Khan’s claims that Russia had agreed to sell both wheat and oil at a 20 per cent and 30 per cent discount to Pakistan due to the efforts of his government.

    “I can confirm that we did not conclude any MoU,” the ambassador revealed. “As for what kind of discounts could have been offered [on oil and wheat], I cannot comment on this, as these are confidential negotiations.”

    Earlier, Russian Counsel General in Karachi, Andrey Fedorov said that a proposal was discussed between the two parties, while categorically denying that any letter was written by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government to Russia, reported Samaa News.

    Finance Minister Miftah Ismail in an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson refuted Khan’s claims that Russia has not offered a 30 per cent discount on oil or wheat.

    Miftah further said that even though a letter was written by former minister Hammad Azhar, Russia did not respond to the letter.

    Former premier Khan recently said that during his time in power, the PTI government had signed an agreement with Russia to buy cheap oil and wheat. Adding that his government remained in power Pakistan would not have to face the petrol bomb.

  • Miftah Ismail says no response by Russia for buying oil at discounted rates

    Miftah Ismail says no response by Russia for buying oil at discounted rates

    Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Tuesday in an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson said that he does not know where former premier Imran Khan gets his numbers from, refuting Khan’s claims that Russia has not offered a 30 per cent discount on oil or wheat.

    “Let’s be clear. I don’t know where Khan gets these numbers from,” said Miftah.

    “Khan just makes it up as he goes along. He is the guy who was saying we (PDM) were brought in through an American conspiracy. And now he has come up with this new thing. If Russia was selling him cheap wheat and oil, then why didn’t he buy it? He did not,” said Miftah.

    Difficult for me to imagine buying Russian oil

    Miftah said that Western sanctions have made importing oil from Moscow impossible despite the Pakistani government’s request to buy wheat from Russia and Ukraine.

    “Russia has not offered us any oil either. It is difficult for me to imagine buying Russian oil,” said the finance minister.

     Raising oil prices was ‘a trap for us‘

    Talking about talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Miftah said, “We have had talks with the IMF in Doha recently. We are talking to the IMF and particularly the IMF is looking at the budget that I am going to present in early June and after that, I am hoping that we will reach an agreement with the Fund.”

    He said the IMF was looking for Pakistan to reverse the subsidies on oil, petrol and diesel in particular “that the previous government had given”.

    Miftah added that the IMF also wanted Islamabad to reverse electric tariff subsidies that the previous government had done.

    “Then it is looking at the budget that I will present. So, I am pretty confident that we should be able to get an agreement with the Fund but there would be some austerity in the budget, some measures to increase taxation in the next budget.”

    The minister said that raising oil prices by the previous government was “a trap for us”.

    “Imran Khan in the last days of his government did a few things to violate all these agreements with the IMF, including giving these unsustainably high subsidies. And he knew we could not sustain this.”

    “And when we came to power, he is now going city to city, trying to rally the people with his theories about conspiracies and all that for putting a lot of political pressure on us.”

    The new government, he said, was finding it difficult to raise the prices right away, but it took a very important step last week.

    Moscow had not even responded to the previous government’s letter

    Ismail said that Moscow had not even responded to the previous government’s letter seeking to buy oil at a discounted price from Russia.

    “The two sides had talked about it, but since Russia is under sanctions, and they have not yet responded to the request sent by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, there was no movement on this front.”

    However, he said Islamabad had approached both Ukraine and Russia, “whichever country is willing to sell us wheat we would be happy to buy it”.

    Hammad’s claims

    Former Energy Minister Hammad Azhar said, “Miftah sahib is claiming on national tv that no letter or proof exists of Russian oil talks. And who he should speak to. Russia was enthusiastic on selling discounted oil to us and he should have spoken to Energy Minister of Russia.”

    Miftah’s response:

    Miftah responded to Hammad Azhar’s tweet: “Bhai please listen to my interview again. I did say your govt wrote a letter. But I said no response ever came.”

    He added, “I didn’t say that you waited more than a month after IK’s visit to write the letter & then too when you knew you’d lose the VNC & that it was only done for politics.”

  • ‘How the hell was I supposed to know?’, Khan defends Russia visit

    ‘How the hell was I supposed to know?’, Khan defends Russia visit

    In an interview with Journalist Mark Austin on Sky News, former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan defended his visit to Russia and said that he didn’t know that Russia was going to invade Ukraine when he landed in Moscow. Khan visited Moscow on February 23, a trip that landed him directly into a hotbed of criticism in the international community.

    Khan during the interview said, “How the hell was I supposed to know, the day I landed in Moscow, Putin is going to attack Ukraine? My statement in Moscow was that I have never believed in military solutions so I never endorsed that [Russian invasion of Ukraine]. Ours was a bilateral meeting, it was planned long before. How could you have punished me like that?”

    “I am against all military operations. I was against Iraq War, the Americans going to Afghanistan consistently and I am against military solutions in Ukraine”, he replied when asked about Russia’s aggressive acts in Ukraine.

    Khan once again reiterated that he was removed by the United States (US) and he has a cipher to prove it. The former premier, talking about what was written in the cipher, said, “Unless you remove PM through no-confidence motion there will be consequences for Pakistan, and if you remove him all will be forgiven.”

    ‘I was not elected to correct all the wrongs in the world’: Khan

    During the interview, Khan was asked why he was on friendly terms with countries like China and Russia when they had committed alleged human rights violations. Khan replied and said, “I was elected by 220 million. My first priority was that there are 50 million people in Pakistan below the poverty line, I was not elected to correct all the wrongs that are going on in the world.”

    “My responsibility was to my country and so all my relationships, whether it was with China, with the US, with Russia, were for the benefits of our own people,” he added.

    He, further pointed out that there are atrocities going on in Kashmir, and 100,000 people in Kashmir have died. “Has anyone condemned India for that? No, because India is an ally, allow us to be neutral too so we can look after our people.”

    ‘I am not a spokesperson for Taliban’: Khan

    Answering a question about the concerning situation of women in Taliban-led Afghanistan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman said Pakistan has never supported the Taliban. He stated: “I am not responsible or a spokesman for the Taliban, if there was any other solution after 20 years of war, you should have found some solution.”

    Twitterati praised Khan for his interview.

  • Govt considering gas import contract with countries including Russia

    Govt considering gas import contract with countries including Russia

    Pakistan is in talks with multiple countries, including Russia, to sign a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import agreement in order to alleviate the country’s ongoing energy supply crisis.

    According to Bloomberg, the Ministry of Energy will go for the ‘most favourable deal’ and is considering government-to-government contracts for importing the gas.

    This action came as Pakistan battles blackouts caused by a fuel crisis caused by long-term suppliers’ failure to deliver shipments. To keep the lights on, the government previously resorted to purchasing LNG on the spot market, incurring debt that endangers worsening inflation on a massive scale.

    The government of Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, which took office on April 11, hopes to capture a new long-term LNG contract to help reduce fuel costs. Long agreements are remarkably affordable than existing spot pricing, while market participants also anticipate that this will provide some relaxation to the government.

  • Petroleum Division refutes Imran Khan’s assertion about Russia’s low-cost fuel offer

    Petroleum Division refutes Imran Khan’s assertion about Russia’s low-cost fuel offer

    There is no formal evidence in the petroleum division of Russia’s offer of inexpensive LNG, crude oil, and POL products, as former Prime Minister Imran Khan has often claimed.

    Syed Zakria Ali Shah, Joint Secretary of Development and a spokesman for the Petroleum Division, stated this to a reporter.

    According to sources in the petroleum sector, trading of crude oil, POL products, and LNG was not even on the table when Khan discussed the purchase of LNG. There was no mention in the meeting minutes of any Russian offer of providing LNG and gasoline at a 30 per cent lower rate.

    According to the spokesman, the government wrote letters to Russia on March 30 through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in reference to the February 2022 visit of a Pakistan delegation, expressing Pakistan’s desire to enter long-term agreements on the import of crude, POL products, and LNG at discounted rates.

    The Petroleum Division also wrote to the Foreign Ministry, asking if Russia had provided any lower tariffs on LNG and fuel items. He also stated that it had given two reminders to this effect in the first week of April 2022, but the ministry stated that it had not received any letter from Russia for conversation in this respect.

    The Former energy minister, Hammad Azhar attracted the attention of his Russian peer, in a letter dated March 30, 2022, to an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) on LNG cooperation that had been in force between the two friendly nations since 2017. The Russian minister was informed that Pakistan was willing to strengthen its partnership by expediting negotiations between the two selected nominees so that a long-term agreement for LNG delivery on a G2G basis could be reached as soon as possible.

    Then-energy-minister recommended two to three Russian LNG cargoes each month, each holding 140,000 cubic metres of LNG.

    There was no mention of any Russian offer in that letter, only a request for negotiation on a long-term contract for the import of gasoline and LNG at a reduced rate.

    According to officials at the energy ministry, India has been purchasing crude oil from Russia for decades and has continued to do so despite EU and US sanctions imposed as a result of its conflict with Ukraine. They claimed that India’s foreign policy was largely independent due to its strong economic power and enticing market for large economies.

    They further claimed that India had obtained a special dispensation from the US from its sanctions against Iran and had been buying crude oil and POL products from Iran despite US and UN sanctions for a long time. They claimed that India was the US’s strategic partner in the area against China.

    “India always pitches its argument before the US saying if it does not import fuel from Iran, its economy will hurt and it will never be on a par with China. As far as Pakistan is concerned, it is not possible to import crude oil, POL products, and LNG at discounted rates even in the wake of EU and US sanctions on Russia, as the country’s economic muscle is very weak and the country is always dependent on the IMF programme”. The officials said that Pakistan had also failed to complete the IP gas line project just because of US and UN sanctions on Iran.

    Via: The News

  • Donald Lu should be sacked over his ‘sheer arrogance and bad manners’: Khan

    Donald Lu should be sacked over his ‘sheer arrogance and bad manners’: Khan

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday called for the sacking of United States (US) Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia Donald Lu for “sheer arrogance and bad manners”.

    In an interview with CNN, Khan said the US diplomat told Pakistan’s ambassador that unless “you get Imran Khan removed in a vote of no-confidence — which was not tabled but he seemed to know about it — Pakistan will suffer consequences”.

    “And then goes on to say, of course, if you get rid of him through the vote of no-confidence, all will be forgiven — such arrogance […] by the way Becky, this guy should be sacked for bad manners and sheer arrogance,” Khan told CNN’s Becky Anderson.

    Anchorperson Becky Anderson asked Khan if he had gotten in touch with the US president or state secretary regarding the matter. Khan did not answer, instead of saying that the National Security Council (NSC) meeting had decided to issue a demarche and a protest was registered to the US in Pakistan and Washington.

    Anderson said the US had “rubbished” the notion that it was involved in a regime change in Pakistan and asked Khan if he genuinely believed his claim of there being a foreign conspiracy to topple his government.

    “What were they meeting [US officials] for? They were the first ones to jump ship and they were the ones who then offered million dollars each to buy my other MNAs who jumped ship later on. Why would the US embassy be interested in our party backbenchers?” said Khan.

    Anderson questioned Khan’s visit to Russia, adding that “the optics didn’t and don’t look good, do they?” To which Khan responded, “They didn’t but let me explain to you. This visit was planned a long time back and all stakeholders in Pakistan were onboard. The military wanted Russian hardware, we wanted oil, there was a gas pipeline which was being negotiated for the past six years before my government came in … how would I have known that the day I land in Moscow, President [Vladimir] Putin would decide to go into Ukraine?”

  • Bilawal Bhutto defends ex-PM Imran Khan’s visit to Russia

    Bilawal Bhutto defends ex-PM Imran Khan’s visit to Russia

    Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday strongly defended Imran Khan’s Moscow visit, saying there was no way for the former prime minister to know that Russia would invade Ukraine on the day he landed in the Russian capital.

    “As far the former prime minister’s trip to Russia, I would absolutely defend the former prime minister of Pakistan. He conducted that trip as part of his foreign policy and without knowing that — no one is psychic, no one has a sixth sense — there’s no way we could have possibly known that that would be the time [when] the current conflict will start,” Bilawal said.

    https://twitter.com/MediaCellPPP/status/1527401668916256770?s=20&t=KZ4uVQyjDUUPrLQdo_hRgA

    “And I believe it is very unfair to punish Pakistan for such an innocent action.”

    Pakistan, he said, was absolutely clear that it has to stand by the principles of the United Nations, including that of non-use of force, on this issue.

    “We are not part of any conflict. We do not wish to be part of any conflict. In fact, we would continue to emphasise the importance of peace,” he said.

    “We would continue to emphasise the importance of dialogue and diplomacy to resolve this conflict as soon as possible. And we will certainly not take any side or take the side of any aggressor within this context.”

    Twitterati praised FM Bilawal Bhutto for the way he defended not only the formal premier but Pakistan as well. Netizens did not spare this chance to compare Bilawal with Khan.

  • UK PM Boris Johnson begins his India tour from Modi’s home state Gujrat

    British Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson arrived in India on Thursday for his first-ever visit. He is expected to offer his help to India cut reliance on Russian oil and defense equipment, reports Reuters.

    Johnson has begun his two-day tour from Indian PM Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat. On Friday, Johnson will visit New Delhi to meet his counter partner, where the two of them will have a take on certain topics including a new defense partnership and a free trade agreement.

    Western countries have urged Delhi to speak out against the war in Ukraine. India, which imports Russian oil and is the world’s biggest buyer of its weapons, abstained in a United Nations (UN) vote condemning the invasion and has not imposed sanctions on Moscow.

    However, Indian PM Modi has expressed concern over the killing of civilians.

    Earlier this month, the United States (US) President Joe Biden told Modi that buying more oil from Russia is not in India’s interest. According to Johnson’s spokesperson, “Johnson will not lecture Modi on the matter.”

    It is pertinent to mention that the United Kingdom (UK) has been at the forefront in providing military aid and support to Ukraine. Johnson recently visited Kyiv to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

    Previously, the India trip has been twice postponed because of Covid flare-ups in each country.

  • Netflix loses 200,000 subscribers in Q1 2022, projects deeper losses in Q2

    Netflix loses 200,000 subscribers in Q1 2022, projects deeper losses in Q2

    Netflix lost 200,000 clientele in the most recent quarter, a significant loss for the streaming titan which has enjoyed exponential user growth over the previous decade. The company revealed that it fell far short of its own low estimates of 2.5 million new users by the start of 2022.

    Except for the Asia Pacific market, where it witnessed a net gain of almost 1 million customers, the streaming giant lost users in nearly every region.

    Netflix lost roughly 640,000 subscribers in the United States and Canada in the first quarter, a higher decline than its prior subscriber loss in the region last year, and 300,000 in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and 350,000 in Latin America.

    The decline is projected to continue into the second quarter when Netflix expects to lose another 2 million customers.

    Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings stated in a pre-recorded interview that the company will look into creating an ad-supported tier in the “next year or two” – a move that Netflix officials had previously opposed.

    “Those who have followed Netflix know that I have been a vocal opponent of advertising complexity and a strong supporter of subscription simplicity. But, as much as I enjoy that, I prefer consumer choice, and letting consumers who want a lower price and are tolerant of advertisements to obtain what they want makes a lot of sense,” Hastings added. “Think of us as being fairly open to delivering even lower costs as a consumer choice with advertising”.

    .According to CFO Spencer Neumann, the streamer will also draw back some of its content investment over the next two years in order to boost revenue growth. During the pre-recorded interview, Neumann added, “We’re cutting back on some of our spend increases across both content and non-content expenditure and we’re trying to be wise and sensible about it, reining in some of that expenditure increase to match the realities of the business’s revenue growth”.

    Due to the company’s poor performance in Q4 and lowered estimates for the first quarter, Wall Street had low expectations for Netflix going into Tuesday’s earnings. Netflix’s move to cease service in Russia, where the streamer claims to have 700,000 customers, was also expected to have an impact on subscriber growth.

    Read more: Samsung Galaxy S23 to launch with high capacity battery, inspired by electric vehicles

    Netflix said in its shareholder letter that it would have added 500,000 customers in the first quarter if the losses in Russia were not taken into account.

    However, Netflix attributed its slowing growth in Q1 to a number of issues, including account sharing, the pandemic’s prolonged disruption, and, once again, greater competition from competing streamers.

    Netflix revealed in a shareholder letter on Tuesday that more than 100 million of its 222 million paid subscriptions were pooled with viewers outside of paying customers, with 30 million shared accounts in the US and Canada alone.

  • Global oil prices climb to highest in three weeks

    Oil prices increased on Monday as fears of limited global supply intensified, with the developing crisis in Ukraine raising the risk of more penalties from the West against Russia, the world’s leading exporter.

    Brent futures were up $1.50, or 1.3 per cent, at $113.20 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures were up 98 cents, or 0.9 per cent, at $107.93 per barrel. Both contracts surged more than 2.5 per cent on April 14, ahead of the Easter weekend holidays, on news that the European Union would phase in a ban on Russian oil imports.

    Last week, EU governments said that the bloc’s executive was working on ideas to ban Russian oil, but officials said Germany was not actively backing an immediate ban.

    Those remarks came before the Ukraine situation escalated over the weekend, with the Ukrainian military defying a Russian demand to lay down arms in the pulverised port of Mariupol on Sunday. Moscow, which refers to its efforts in Ukraine as a “special operation,” said its soldiers had nearly entirely captured the city, with no sign of a truce in sight.

    Read more: Oil prices jump following Russia’s biggest production decline

    Due to sanctions or importers voluntarily rejecting Russian shipments, the International Energy Agency has warned that around 3 million barrels per day (BPD) of Russian oil might be shut in from May onwards.