- Imran Khan accused US of ‘ousting him from power’ after meeting with Putin
- Former Pakistani PM visited Moscow on February 23 and 24 for sit-down talks
- Mr Khan claimed he had ‘no idea’ Putin was going to send troops in to Ukraine
- Despite fall from power, he has ‘no doubt’ he can return due to ‘enough support’
PUBLISHED: 10:51 BST, 19 June 2022
Imran Khan has accused the United States of trying to oust him from power by ‘instrumenting a vote of no-confidence against him’ following his meeting with Vladimir Putin on the day Russia invaded Ukraine.
The ousted Pakistani prime minister has claimed his party MPs were ‘bribed one million dollars’ by the US to go against him after he went to Moscow on February 23 and held face-to-face talks with the Russian leader, just hours after forces started shelling Ukraine.
Mr Khan, 69, alleged Donald Lu, a United States diplomat, said Pakistan would suffer ‘consequences’ if he remained in power whereas ‘all would be forgiven’ if he was removed, during ‘a meeting that occurred before the no-confidence motion was tabled by the opposition’ in April.
Washington have strongly denied any involvement.
The former cricketer-turned-politician claimed he had ‘no idea’ Putin was going to send his troops – but didn’t ‘abandon the trip’ because he needed to think about what was ‘necessary’ for ‘vulnerable citizens’ .
Categories: America, American History, Americas, Asia, Pakistan, United States, USA