Pakistan sent two C-130 planes of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine Tuesday night, according to Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Speaking at Noor Khan Airbase in the Pakistani capital as the planes departed, Qureshi said the aid was sent at the request of the Ukrainian Embassy in Islamabad.
The aid includes tents, blankets, sleeping bags, generators, soap, hand wash, medicine and canned food.
Pakistan “wishes for the situation to settle down through dialogue and diplomacy,” Qureshi said, adding the aid is being sent on the basis of Pakistan’s “long history of good relations with Ukraine.”
Some context: Pakistan has not condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine — abstaining from a vote of the UN General Assembly on March 2.
Pakistan’s United Nations ambassador Munir Akram said at the time the country was “deeply concerned” by the war in Ukraine and “repeatedly stressed the need for de-escalation, renewed negotiations.”
The heads of various foreign missions in Pakistan — including the EU, the US, the UK, Norway and Japan — previously issued a joint letter urging Islamabad to condemn Russia’s invasion.
