Amid Russia’s intensifying onslaught in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday called for restraint while emphasising that there were still options for diplomacy in resolving the military conflict between the two neighbours.

“We think diplomacy cannot be ruled out and there are options for diplomacy,” he said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.

The press conference comes as the Russian forces advanced to the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, with the beleaguered country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, pleading with the international community to do more, saying sanctions announced so far were not enough.

An estimated 100,000 people fled as explosions and gunfire rocked major cities, according to media reports. Dozens of Ukrainians have been reported killed.

The foreign minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had shared the country’s concerns with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine crisis during their meeting at the Kremlin on Thursday.

He was of the view that the premier presented the country’s concerns on Ukraine to the Russian president “at the right time and right place”. He added that right from the beginning the country was expressing hope and calling for dialogue to resolve the issue through diplomacy as developing countries would be bearing the brunt of such wars in the form of rising oil and wheat prices.

“United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres's voice for ‘give diplomacy a chance’ is still an option and I think it should be given a chance,” he said.

On speculations about the “ill-timed visit” of the premier to Moscow and “abrupt end to the meeting,” he said such reactions were normal and the large delegation was not shocked. FM Qureshi added that the country’s intention was fulfilled.

He added that before the visit the cabinet had a detailed meeting with the diplomatic staff, including retired people, saying that “collective wisdom is good.” Bilateral relations with Russia should not be compromised, he said, adding that the purpose of the visit was to maximise the diplomatic space. “I think our decision was right, our diplomatic space has increased, and we also saw an opportunity to take Russia in a loop over Kashmir, South Asia.”

FM Qureshi also shared that the country had a meeting with a high-level contact team of the United States before the Russia trip. “We gave Maudbana [respectful] answers to their [US] Masoomana [innocent] questions,” he said while talking about the meeting, adding that they were still in contact with them.

He stressed the need for regional connectivity and highlighted the historical importance of Russia in the region.

Moreover, he said regional situation – including Afghanistan, South Asia, and Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir – also came under discussion during the Imran-Putin meeting. They also talked about bilateral cooperation, with a focus on expediting the Pakistan-Stream Gas Pipeline project.

In the coming days, he said the shared objectives would be promoted on a regional and international level and also in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

“We have agreed on most of the things on the gas pipeline. We have decided we will further talk on this and we are hoping soon we will clinch this,” FM Qureshi said.

Students stranded in Ukraine

The foreign minister said that Pakistan’s Embassy in Ukraine was in contact with the country’s students and refuted claims about the death of any student. Before leaving for Russia, FM Qureshi said that he had directed the country’s ambassador in Ukraine to ensure the safety of the Pakistani diaspora – including 3,000 students –there in any uncertain situation.

He added the foreign office was in contact with the embassy for shifting students from apparently risk-prone areas to a safe location and returning students to home.

“Our embassy in 48 hours shifted from Kyiv to Ternopil, it’s a place near to the Polish border so that we can easily evacuate our students. It’s easy to evacuate them from there and we have shared new numbers with our students and we are in contact with them,” FM Qureshi said.

Russia's interest in Gwadar LNG terminal

He further said that Russia has expressed its interest in establishing an LNG terminal in Gwadar and both countries were looking to end procedural bottlenecks in trade and building economic linkages via banking systems.

Many Russian businesspersons have shown interest in attending the investment conference in March, he said, adding that Pakistan showed interest in buying the Russian gas in view of the depleting local natural resource in the country.

Afghanistan situation

According to the foreign minister, Pakistan and Russia have the same focus on the Afghanistan situation with shared concerns of saving the Afghan population from the impending humanitarian crisis and the effects of economic meltdown.

He added that Russia has been invited to a meeting on the Afghanistan situation which is to be held on March 30 and 31. There would be immediate neighbours, which includes six countries, meeting on Afghanistan, he added.

On opposition’s criticism, he said PM Imran was not panicked and confident during the trip as the latter does not have bank accounts in Western countries and any offshore properties. In addition to this, he said he would give a response to the opposition’s moves in tomorrow (Saturday)’s Larkana rally.

“We took a major decision to not become a part of any bloc and focus on our economy. Pakistan is broadly engaged with all major powers of the world,” he said.

Responding to a query, he said that the relationship with Ukraine was still intact and both the countries value that. He added that relations with Russia were also moving on a “good” trajectory.

“We are not part of any camp and we are not going to be. We have paid a big price for that and our foreign policy is quite open and we will continue to keep our contacts with everyone,” he said in response to a question.