After the start of Russia's military campaign against Ukraine and the resulting unprecedented sanctions against Moscow, the latter is focusing its attention on the leading states in the Islamic world and the greater Middle East to negate the impact of Western isolation.

The operation against Ukraine began when Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was in Moscow on an official visit; he had arrived in the Russian capital on the eve of the launch of the military operation. This gave rise to speculation about whether the Pakistani leader’s visit could be considered an implicit endorsement of Russia's actions.

In particular, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price was asked at a Feb. 23 briefing whether Washington considers the choice of the Pakistani prime minister to visit Moscow at this particular time the equivalent of “indirectly endorsing” Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“You would have to ask the Pakistani government. I’m just not in a position to offer an assessment on the timing of foreign counterparts’ travel to another country,” Price replied.