Russia accuses US of meddling in domestic affairs of poll-bound Bangladesh

Politics in Bangladesh became the focus of a war of words between the US and Russia on Saturday as Washington accused Moscow of making a “deliberate mischaracterization” of its foreign policy regarding the South Asian country’s upcoming elections.

Bangladesh will go to the polls on January 7 next year.

At a regular weekly briefing in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas and a senior representative of the local opposition discussed plans during the meeting to launch massive anti- organize government protests in the country.

In response to her statement, a US State Department spokesperson in Washington said: We are aware of Zakharova’s deliberate mischaracterization of US foreign policy and Ambassador Haas’s meetings.

Washington’s response, issued by the US embassy, ​​came hours after the Russian embassy in Dhaka updated its website with details of Zakharova’s November 22 comments in Moscow.

The US official said America wants to see free and fair elections conducted in a peaceful manner, in line with the aspirations of the people of Bangladesh.

To support that shared goal of free and fair elections through peaceful means, U.S. Embassy staff have engaged and will continue to engage with the government, opposition, civil society, and other stakeholders to encourage them to work together for of the Bengali people. , he said.

The United States does not support any political party in Bangladesh. The United States also does not favor one political party over another, the spokesperson said.

In her weekly briefing, Zakharova also claimed that the US ambassador promised his interlocutor to provide information support in the event that authorities used force against participants in peaceful demonstrations.

The Russian Foreign Ministry official said these commitments were reportedly made on behalf of the embassies of the US, Britain, Australia and several other countries.

The Russian spokesperson said the action of the US ambassador to Bangladesh can be seen as nothing less than a gross interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state by Washington and its satellite states.

(But) from our (Russian) side, we have no doubts about the ability of the Bangladeshi authorities to hold the parliamentary elections scheduled for January 7, 2024, in full accordance with national law, independently and without the help of foreign benefactors. , she said.

Zakharova claimed that Moscow has repeatedly raised concerns about attempts by the US and its allies to influence internal political processes in Bangladesh, ostensibly under the banner of ensuring transparency and inclusiveness in the upcoming parliamentary elections there.

She also recalled the second Maidan protest in 2013 against the then Russian-backed regime in Ukraine, saying: “We witnessed a similar scenario ten years ago, in an oblique reference to the role of the US at the time.

The Maidan protest movement was a political upheaval that took place in Ukraine from November 2013 to February 2014. The trigger was the government’s decision to suspend an association agreement with the European Union and instead strengthen ties with Russia.

The altercation between America and Russia came two months after the US State Department criticized comments by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his visit to Dhaka that Moscow would prevent any attempt to impose diktats and interference from Washington in the region, including Bangladesh.

Lavrov, during a visit to Dhaka in late September, had said: “We can clearly see that the US and its allies are really trying to advance their interests in the region by using the so-called Indo-Pacific strategy.

“A country that has invaded two of its neighbors and is waging an aggressive war, bombing schools, hospitals and apartment buildings every day, should not talk about any other country imposing diktats,” a US spokesperson had said at the time.

Bangladesh is building its first of two nuclear power plants in partnership with Russia’s state-owned nuclear company Rosatom at a cost of $12.65 billion. Ninety percent of the amount is financed by Moscow through a Russian loan that must be repaid within 28 years with a grace period of ten years.

The COVID-19 pandemic and war-related sanctions in Ukraine delayed construction of the plant, and in December last year Bangladesh denied access to a Russian ship carrying equipment for the nuclear plant, saying the ship fell under the scope of US sanctions . .