Russia, Pakistan strengthen economic ties, expand trade.

Russia and Pakistan hope to expand bilateral trade and improve their economic cooperation, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk and Pakistani Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar said during a joint press conference in Islamabad on Sept.

18. Moscow also pledged support for Pakistan's bid to join the BRICS international alliance. While Russia has faced increasing economic isolation due to Western sanctions following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, trade between Moscow and Islamabad has expanded, reaching £1 billion in 2023.

The nations hope to continue expanding their economic relationship despite the restrictions imposed by sanctions, Dar said during the press conference. "Even today, we looked at how to expand our relationship, and overcome this constraint of the banking system, which you know are facing sanctions, which obviously constrains our relationship, the volume of our relationship could have been much bigger," Dar said. Pakistan aims to expand cooperation with Russia "across multiple sectors," including the purchase of Russian Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG.)

Russia will also back Pakistan's membership in BRICS, a bloc of countries that now includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. "Of course, we would be supportive," Overchuk said of Pakistan's application to the bloc. Pakistan applied for BRICS membership in 2023.

The alliance will hold a summit in Kazan, Russia, in October.

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More than half of the signatories came from Europe.

When counting other key Western allies outside of Europe - the U.S., Canada, and Australia - the disparity is even more stark.