ISLAMABAD: Russia, on Thursday, sought an explanation from Pakistan over the alleged denial of covering a joint presser by the Ukrainian foreign minister along with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to a Russian journalist. Through a statement over Twitter, the Embassy of Russia in Islamabad said that it is “inadmissible” to “violate” reporters’ rights to access information.

“@RusEmbPakistan stands in solidarity with the Pakistanis colleagues of a Russian journalist @RBekniyazov. It is inadmissible to violate reporters’ rights to access information. In this regard, the Embassy requested the @ForeignOfficePk to provide clarity on the incident,” the Russian embassy said in a tweet.

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Earlier in the day, a Russian journalist, Ruslan Bekniyazov, who regularly covers the Foreign Office briefings in Islamabad, was allegedly denied coverage of the joint stakeout by visiting Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba along with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of Pakistan.

Prior to the presser, the MoFA officials allegedly conveyed to him that “the Ukrainian officials have requested that no Russian journalist would sit in the joint presser.”

However, when her attention was diverted towards the incident, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch expressed her lack of knowledge about the matter.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023