Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov's Dhaka visit cancelled

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's visit to Dhaka has been cancelled.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam confirmed the matter to The Business Standard on Sunday (20 November). 

"He [Sergey Lavrov]" is likely to have a phone conversation with our foreign minister tomorrow or the day after," Md Shahriar Alam said. 

The Russian foreign minister was scheduled to visit Bangladesh on Wednesday (23 November) mainly to attend the 22nd Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Council of Ministers (COM) meeting to be held in Dhaka on 24 November.

Russian foreign minister’s visit: Dhaka to focus on energy cooperation, Rohingya issue

"We have invited all the member states of IROA. It is a minister-level summit. The Russian Federation was also invited. I met him [Sargey Lavrov] at an event and invited him to Bangladesh. He said he will come. Yesterday the foreign ministry got a notification that he will not be coming. I don't know the details," Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said on the sidelines of the Business Forum Leadership Summit 2022 on Sunday. 

"But I can understand, they are very busy. Due to the conflict in Europe, their work has increased a lot. Maybe that is why he isn't coming," he added. 

When asked if there is any possibility of having any dialogue with Lavrov, Momen said, "Yes. There is a chance. We have been informed that he will talk to me over a phone call, and I have agreed to it."

Aleksandr Mantytsky, the Russian ambassador to Bangladesh will represent his country at IORA meeting scheduled for 24  November instead of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, reports UNB. 

Russia is a dialogue partner of the IORA while Bangladesh is the current chair. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will brief the media on the upcoming IORA meeting on Monday.

Ahead of Lavrov's visit to Dhaka, preparations were being made for a courtesy meeting with the prime minister and bilateral talks between the Russian foreign minister.