Did Pakistan really sell arms to US for the Ukraine war? Pakistan secretly sold arms to the US for use in the Ukraine war, and the US responded by assisting Pakistan in obtaining a much-needed bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to The Intercept.
The move appears to have drawn Pakistan into the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The US put pressure on Pakistan to side with Ukraine, but then-Prime Minister Imran Khan refused.
Khan was later ousted, allegedly as part of a US-backed regime change operation, and a coalition was installed in the country. This ruling coalition of 13 parties led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif caved into US pressure and agreed to sell weapons to the US for use in the Ukraine conflict.
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According to The Intercept, on May 23, 2023, US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu and Pakistani Ambassador Masood Khan met at the State Department in Washington, DC, to discuss how Pakistani arms sales to Ukraine might strengthen that country’s financial standing in the eyes of the IMF.
Prior to a meeting between then-Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome in Islamabad, the purpose of the meeting was to iron out the specifics of the arrangement.
Did Pakistan really sell arms to US for Ukraine war?
The Intercept report was rejected by Pakistan’s Foreign Office. The report was “fabricated” and “baseless,” according to FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch.
“The IMF Standby Arrangement for Pakistan was successfully negotiated between Pakistan and the IMF to implement difficult but essential economic reforms. Giving any other color to these negotiations is disingenuous,” she said.
