Pakistan pushes for diplomatic engagement to end 5-year-old Russia-Ukraine war

UNITED NATIONS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Apr, 2026) With the humanitarian situation in Ukraine deteriorating by the day amid the escalating Russo-Ukrainian war, Pakistan has urged the parties to return to diplomatic engagement in a bid to end the conflict, now in its 5th year.

"We remain deeply perturbed by the continuation of hostilities, adding to the misery of those affected by this conflict, and further worsening the already dire humanitarian situation," Pakistani delegate Muhammad Kamran Taj told the UN Security Council during a discussion on the situation in Ukraine.

(The conflict began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, arguing it was a "special military operation" for Ukraine's "demilitarization", protecting Russian speakers from "genocide," and preventing NATO expansion.)

Noting the announcement of an Orthodox Easter truce by both Russia and Ukraine, Kamran Taj, a counsellor at the Pakistan Mission to the UN, commended the two sides for the recent UAE-facilitated exchange of Prisoners of War, saying these steps could create conditions for achieving lasting peace.

"We encourage both sides to continue to build on this momentum to advance the cause of peace."

"From the outset," he said, "Pakistan’s position, on the Ukraine conflict, has been anchored in an unwavering conviction - the supremacy of dialogue, as the only viable path for lasting peace."

"Now, more than ever before, the overwhelming global opinion is on the side of ending this conflict through peaceful means," the Pakistani delegate said, adding that it can only be achieved through a sustained, meaningful and structured dialogue.

"We remain hopeful that the current pause in the dialogue process between Russia and Ukraine, is momentary and will resume at an early date."

Pakistan, Taj said, was confident that both sides would make full use of the diplomacy, demonstrate political will, and engage constructively towards a just and lasting settlement of the conflict, which is acceptable to all sides, corresponds to their legitimate security interests, and is in line with the UN Charter, international law, and relevant multilateral agreements.

Pakistan, he said, stands ready to support all efforts aimed at resolving this issue peacefully, in a comprehensive and durable manner.

At the outset, Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, said that on 9 April, the Russia announced a 32-hour Easter truce from 11 to 12 April, to which Ukraine responded that it would reciprocate.

“However, this temporary pause in fighting that could have allowed a peaceful celebration of Orthodox Easter was not respected,” he added.

Throughout the holiday weekend, there were hostilities close to the frontlines. Three consecutive nights of Russian aerial strikes between 13 and 16 April targeted multiple regions across Ukraine, with the Russia launching its deadliest attack on the night of 15 to 16 April, targeting Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

Welcoming the exchange of prisoners of war that brought home 175 service members and seven civilians from each side on 11 April, khiari also called for more efforts to return all deported and forcibly transferred Ukrainian children, stressing “their families are desperately waiting to be reunited.”

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia described today’s meeting as a “cheap, second-rate spectacle”. While Kyiv rushed to accuse Russia of violating the Easter ceasefire, there were 6,500 violations of the ceasefire by the Ukrainian armed forces, he said.

Further, “this measure cannot under any circumstances be regarded as a prologue to a long-standing ceasefire” the Russian envoy stressed. While the Russia supports achieving a lasting settlement that addresses the root causes of the conflict, Ukraine and the majority of European leaders seek to prolong the war, he said.

Ambassador Andrii Melnyk of Ukraine, who request the meeting, recalled that he detailed in his statement during the Council’s last meeting on this topic why the Russian Federation will lose the war “because of its disastrous economic situation”.

According to battlefield assessments, the Russia is currently losing an average of 254 soldiers “for every square kilometre of Ukrainian territory it still manages to occupy”, he said.

Considering this “bloody arithmetic”, he said that Moscow would have to send at least another 1.5 million soldiers to their deaths to seize the whole of the Donbas.