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

Bangladesh’s foreign ministry has said Dhaka believed that its decision over a Russian ship under US sanction was unlikely to affect the existing friendly ties with Moscow.

 “Our (Dhaka-Moscow) understanding is so good that we don’t think a single issue will adversely impact the existing bilateral and friendly relations,” the foreign office spokesperson told a media briefing.

Foreign ministry’s spokesperson Seheli Sabrin termed Russia as Bangladesh’s “tested and long-term friend” recalling Moscow’s invaluable support during its 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan.

She particularly recalled the repeated Russian vetoes for ceasefire proposals in the US Security Council at the fag-end of the Liberation War, the acceptance of which would have jeopardised Bangladesh’s independence, reports BSS.

The official Bangladesh reaction came two days after Russia summoned its ambassador in Moscow Kamrul Ahsan over Dhaka's decision to block entry of Russian ships under western sanctions.

Sabrin said the matter related to the Russian ship was a six-week-old issue but the Bangladesh envoy was called to the Russian foreign ministry this week.

Asked why Bangladesh banned US-sanctioned Russian ships at its ports, she said that Bangladesh preferred to maintain good relations with all the nations as “we are a trade-dependent country”.

She said, not only Bangladesh, the sanctioned Russian ship was banned from calling ports of other countries as well.

Earlier on Wednesday the foreign ministry said it had sought a detailed report from its ambassador in Moscow to know what exactly was discussed with the Russian foreign ministry as he was called there.

“Our ambassador sent his report, and now the foreign ministry here is analysing it,” the spokesperson said adding that after examining the report more information regarding the meeting would be disclosed.

On February 21 Russia's foreign ministry in a subsequent statement said it had told the Bangladesh envoy that the move to ban its ship was not in line with "traditionally friendly bilateral relations and may adversely affect the prospects for cooperation in various fields".

"This step runs counter to the traditionally friendly character of bilateral relations and can hurt the prospects for our cooperation in various spheres," the Russian foreign office said.

Sabrin said Russian deputy foreign minister Rudenko Andrey Yurevich requested Dhaka to consider the historical and friendly bilateral ties before taking any decision as he talked to the Bangladesh envoy.

“He (Russian junior minister) also requested Bangladesh envoy to convey the Russian concern regarding the issue to the high-ups in Dhaka, she added.

Sabrin said the Bangladesh ambassador explained the backdrop of Dhaka’s decision to ban 69 Russian ships under western sanctions.

According to the spokesperson, the ambassador also conveyed Yurevich Dhaka’s concerns regarding the current economic downfall due to the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Ahead of summoning the Bangladesh ambassador Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told media in Moscow that Bangladesh had banned the Russian ship under a threat of US secondary sanctions.

 “We know that this unfriendly step was taken by the county’s authorities, not on their initiative. It was made under threat of secondary sanctions of the US,” Russia’s state-run TASS news agency quoted him as saying.

In January, Dhaka informed Moscow that they could send any ship, except the sanctioned ones, to Bangladesh’s ports.

Bangladesh business leaders earlier said the small South Asian country could not defy US or EU sanctions on Russian ships or products due to the Ukraine war as would expose itself to identical bans.

Bangladesh’s Mercantile Marine Office in a notice earlier said in line with the foreign ministry advice it banned entry into Bangladeshi ports of 69 Russian vessels which were embargoed by the United States.

“Russia is a friendly country but whatever they say, we can’t afford to allow their particular ships which are under sanctions of the US or the European Union,” Bangladesh Ocean Going Ship Owners Association (BOGSA) chairman Azam J Chowdhury said.

He said the US and the EU countries were the crucial destinations for Bangladeshi products like readymade garments and “our business interests do not allow us to defy their ban”.

“The reality is all almost all countries including our neighbouring India are also acknowledging the ban,” Chowdhury said adding the denial of ships under western sanctions did not mean that Bangladesh was severing its trade ties with Russia.

Foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen last month urged Russia not to send cargo through ships sanctioned by the United States, emphasising that Dhaka did not want its ties with Washington to be affected.

“We told Russia that they can send us cargo through any of their vessels except 69 ships that are under (US) sanction,” he told reporters.

Moscow sent a ship to Bangladesh in December to deliver equipment for Rooppur nuclear power plant, which is being built with Russian technology and assistance.

Dhaka had refused to accept the vessel due to the US sanctions as the Russian flag carrier — Sparta III — was scheduled to dock at Bangladesh’s southwestern Mongla port on December 24 to unload the cargo as it reached its territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal.

“It is surprising that Russia changed the name of a ship. We didn’t expect it. Now, we expect Russia to send non-sanctioned ships,” Momen said.

Earlier foreign ministry officials said that the denial came after the US Embassy in Dhaka in a letter to Bangladesh authorities described the vessel to be URSA MAJOR, which was on their list of sanctioned Russian ships.

According to the US list of 69 sanctioned Russian vessels, URSA MAJOR or Sparta III is an Amphibious/Attack Cargo Ship (AKA) designed to carry equipment, cargo and troops.