Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi held a telephonic conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday and took up the important matter of evacuation of Pakistani community and students in Ukraine and their safe return to Pakistan.

Taking to Twitter, Foreign Minister Qureshi said that he shared Pakistan's perspective in detail, reiterating serious concern at the situation, underscoring the importance of de-escalation, and stressing the indispensability of diplomacy.

Qureshi also appreciated the role played by the Ukrainian authorities in the evacuation process and asked for continued facilitation and smooth border crossing at the earliest possible.

According to Radio Pakistan the Foreign Minister also noted that Prime Minister Imran Khan in his recent visit to Moscow regretted the latest situation between Russia and Ukraine. He stressed that conflict is not in anyone's interest, and that the developing countries are always hit the hardest economically, in case of conflict.

During the Moscow visit, PM Imran had conveyed to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he regretted the situation developing between Russia and Ukraine, adding that Islamabad had hoped that military conflict could be averted through a diplomatic solution.

Qureshi underlined Pakistan's belief that disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.

Earlier in the day, the Pakistan Embassy in Ukraine stated that Ambassador Dr Noel Khokhar met with the deputy internal affairs minister of Ukraine to discuss the facilitation of evacuation for Pakistani citizens from the war-hit country.

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalates, the embassy has provided updates regarding their evacuation efforts. The body in its statement stated that 137 Pakistani citizens have been successfully evacuated so far.

The embassy reported that a night curfew has been imposed in the cities of Kharkiv, Lviv and Ternopil, while the capital city Kyiv is under a 24-hour curfew.

Due to the increased conflict, the embassy stated that “there is no safe place in Ukraine” and the Ternopil district administration issued a warning on Saturday to civilians to keep lights off.