‘Russian ship denied entry to Bangladesh as US forcing countries to join sanctions’

Moscow has said the US is forcing neutral countries to join anti-Russian sanctions, citing Bangladesh denying berth to ship with cargo for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant as an example of ‘forced solidarity’.

A bdnews24.com report said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the remarks in a regular briefing on February 1, the Russian Embassy in Dhaka said in a statement on social media.

“Solidarity is something that comes from the soul, from the heart, from one's own analysis. It is about people of different views showing unity on an issue absolutely voluntarily and independently. What we see now is truly ‘forced solidarity’,” she said.

The ship, Ursa Major, was cleared to berth in Mongla port in December.

Bangladesh denied the ship entry after the US Embassy in Dhaka said the ship was actually sanction-hit Sparta-3.

Moscow tried to send the goods for the plant backed by Russia through India, but failed.

“The incident delayed the delivery of a batch of equipment for the Rooppur NPP under construction by more than a month, which is hardly in the Bangladeshi side’s best interests,” Zakharova said.

“We believe that US attempts to force third countries to join the anti-Russia sanctions are completely devoid of legitimacy and must be stopped.”