ISLAMABAD, The Russian Ambassador to Pakistan Danila Ganich has welcomed the Pakistani deci­sion to import oil from Rus­sia and said this would be a broader, more wide-ranging, and more strategic deal be­tween the two countries.

“As Russia is facing sanc­tions, I cannot share more details about this deal”, Russian Am­bassador to Pakistan Danila Ganich told journalists in Is­lamabad. He said both Paki­stan and Russia are enjoying excellent ties, and these rela­tions are solid and strong and do not change with the change of governments in Pakistan.

When asked what role Rus­sia could play to reduce ten­sion and facilitate conflict res­olution between Pakistan and India, Ambassador Danila Gan­ich said for this to happen, there has to be an expression of inter­est by both Pakistan and India. “If Pakistan and India are will­ing, Russia is ready to play its role”, Danila Ganich said.

However, he welcomed the de­cision of Foreign Minister Bila­wal Bhutto Zardari to visit Goa to attend the SCO Council of For­eign Ministers conference.

“There should not be any di­vision in such intergovern­mental organisations,” he re­marked. There are other forums available where political issues could be discussed.

Ambassador Danila Ganich welcomed the historic agree­ment between Saudi Arabia and Iran and the meeting between the foreign ministers of Syria and Saudi Arabia and expressed optimism that it would have a positive impact on the region and establish durable peace.

“Russia hopes other countries will also normalise their rela­tions with Syria”, he commented, saying Syria must be given the opportunity to rebuild its war-torn country. Ambassador Danila Ganich, when asked about the global impact of the Ukrainian war, said the global economy is affected due to this war, but Rus­sia is not responsible. He said the global supply chain has been af­fected; every country would suf­fer, but developing countries would suffer more from this war. “The West wants a strategic sur­render by Russia, but why? I do not know the basis of this de­mand”, Danila Ganich comment­ed. Ambassador Danila Ganich said : If the economic power of Russia has to be seen, then it has to be kept in mind that Russia is no longer the USSR and its econ­omy is based on the market.

When asked how the Ukrainian war could be stopped, Ambassador Danila Ganich said this question should be asked to the West; however, the Russian demand is that security guaran­tees be given to Russia, and our documents, which have been given to Americans and NATO, should be considered.

Responding to a question about rising Islamophobia, Am­bassador Danila Ganich said Russia strongly denounces such incidents and completely stands with Pakistan and the Muslim world on this matter. “There is a huge Muslim population in Rus­sia that is living in harmony with other religions,” Ambassador Danila Ganich remarked. Russia completely disowns and strong­ly condemns all Islamophobic content that has no connection with freedom of expression.

On security cooperation be­tween Pakistan and Russia, Am­bassador Danila Ganich said it’s an area where talks and coop­eration are ongoing. Pakistani military officers are getting training in CT in Russia. “Both countries hold CT exercises reg­ularly, which are meant to share each other’s experience”, the ambassador remarked.

“I want to laud Pakistan’s role and sacrifices in the war against terrorism. Pakistan lost eight thousand lives and suffered huge economic losses”, Ambas­sador Danila Ganich said.

“Pakistan stands like a pillar in the global war against ter­rorism, and this role of Pakistan should be acknowledged by ev­eryone internationally”, Ambas­sador Danila Ganich remarked.

The ambassador welcomed the Chinese economic develop­ment under CPEC in Pakistan and said Russia is ready to in­vest in Gwadar if there is any feasible investment opportuni­ty and strategic plan.

He called for joint efforts to counter and fight the grow­ing threat from ISIS TTP, ETIM, and other terrorist organisa­tions based in Afghanistan, and Afghan brothers are also re­quested to take action against these organisations. To a ques­tion about former PM Imran Khan’s visit to Russia, Ambassa­dor Danila Ganich said the deci­sion to keep the visit intact was in fact the desire of the then PM Imran Khan that the authority of Pakistan should be defended.

When asked about political developments in Pakistan, Am­bassador Danila Ganich said Russia enjoys good ties with ev­ery political party in Pakistan and keeps Imran Khan in high esteem. “The political situation in Pakistan is very complex”, the ambassador remarked.

When asked about Pakistan’s economic difficulties, Ambassa­dor Danila Ganich said the west looted Russia and is current­ly freezing 300 billion USD of it, which is extremely unfair by the west. He made an interesting comment about freedom of ex­pression and the press and said there is no free media now any­where in the world. “The western newspapers are like the USSR-time daily “Pravda” now. Howev­er, he said the media in Pakistan is much more free than in the West and the United States.