Dhaka expects sanctioned ship issue won’t affect ties with Russia

Staff Reporter :
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that there will be no impact on bilateral relationship between Bangladesh with Russia due to a single ship or for any specific reason because both countries have a long term friendly relation.
“Russia is a tested and an old friend of Bangladesh, especially for its special role during Liberation War in 1971. We are working jointly on multifaceted areas. Our understanding is so good that we don’t think a single issue will adversely impact the existing bilateral and friendly relations,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Seheli Sabrin told reporters on Thursday during the regular weekly press briefing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She further stated that the barring of a US sanctioned vessel was a six-week old issue, while the Envoy of Bangladesh was called to Russian Foreign Ministry on February 21.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Russia had called the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Moscow Quamrul Ahsan on February 21 and had discussions on various issues.
On February 21, the Bangladeshi Mission in Moscow sent a report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka regarding the discussions that had taken place when the envoy was summoned.
Quoting the statement, Seheli Sabrin said, “The Russian side expressed concern about the decision not to allow Russian ships to anchor in Bangladesh. However, no specific ship or number of ships was discussed. According to available information, Russia has 1,100 ships outside the sanctions list.” When asked why Bangladesh has imposed sanctions on 69 Russian ships on the US sanctions list, the spokesperson said, “Bangladesh is a trade-dependent country. That is why we have to make many decisions keeping in mind the interests of our country. Our trade volume with the United States is very large, amounting for nearly 80 percent.”
Quoting the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian state news agency TASS, on Tuesday reported that the Bangladeshi envoy was told that “This step does not correspond to the nature of traditionally friendly bilateral relations” and may negatively affect the prospects of bilateral cooperation in various fields.
The Foreign Minister of Bangladesh earlier said that they would not allow any Russian ship with the US or the European Union sanctions.