Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi held a telephonic conversation with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov here on Thursday.

Both the leaders discussed matters related to COVID-19 disasters, cooperation at the multilateral fora, prospects of enhanced bilateral cooperation, and regional issues were also discussed, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO).

The Foreign Minister underlined that Pakistan considered Russia an important partner and desired to forge a long-term and multi-dimensional partnership with Russia.

He also offered condolences on the loss of precious lives in Russia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two foreign ministers exchanged views about the socio-economic ramifications of the pandemic.

FM Sergey Lavrov expressed solidarity with Pakistan in its efforts to provide necessary assistance to combat the deadly virus.

FM Qureshi apprised his Russian counterpart of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call for “Global Initiative on Debt Relief” for developing countries.

He stated that coordinated and comprehensive actions were essential to create fiscal space needed by the developing world to deal with the socio-economic impacts of Covid-19.

The Russian FM expressed support for debt relief initiative and assured to play a positive role.