Moscow wants Dhaka by its side at UN, WTO

Russia has sought Bangladesh's support in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to counter economic sanctions imposed on it by the United States, the European Union and their allies.

Moscow also wants Dhaka to join the St Petersburg International Economic Forum to be hosted in June by the Russian Federation and stand by it to foil the West's bid to strip it of the Kimberley Process (KP), the global diamond industry oversight.

The Russian Embassy in Dhaka has sent letters to the foreign ministry, seeking Bangladesh's support against the US-led Western alliance's anti-Russia move.

Anton Kobyakov, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a letter to the foreign ministry requested Bangladesh to join the St Petersburg International Economic Forum to be held on 15-18 June.

Russia is hosting the event at a time when the country has been isolated from the global economy following various sanctions imposed by Western countries in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

"I am confident that the upcoming forum will be a highlight in your 2022 business calendar. Every effort will be made to ensure that your participation is highly productive, allowing ample opportunities for networking, exchange of ideas, reaching new agreements and signing investment contracts," Anton Kobyakov said.

In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, 13 countries, including those in the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea, imposed trade and investment sanctions against Russia and Belarus.

On 15 March, the WTO issued a joint statement in support of the sanctions although it goes against its Most Favoured Nation policy, which is based on the idea that countries should treat all their trade partners equally – that no one country should be "more favoured".

Russia seeks Dhaka's backing in WTO

Referring to a communication from the Russian Federation sent to the WTO, the Russian letter to Bangladesh said, "It is unacceptable to restrict the rights and legitimate interests of the Russian Federation within the international trade system, therefore the Russian side calls on the Bangladeshi side to support communication, including through its permanent representative in the WTO."

Russia said there are voices proposing that Russia be "expelled" from the WTO or its membership rights be suspended against the WTO rules.

Unilateral unjustified withdrawal of the most favoured nation treatment for Russian goods and services or even public discussion about revocation of this treatment severely defies the fundamental WTO principle of non-discrimination, it said in the statement.

"Eventually, all members will be affected if we get into a vicious circle of introducing mutual retaliatory measures, thereby making the applicant of WTO agreements largely sporadic and, therefore, deficient," it noted.

WTO vows to protect "security interests"

In the joint statement of the US, the United Kingdom, Norway, North Macedonia, New Zealand, Montenegro, Moldova, South Korea, Japan, Iceland, the EU, Canada and Australia, issued by the WTO on 15 March, the countries said, "We will take any action as WTO members that we consider necessary to protect our essential security interests. These may include actions in support of Ukraine, or actions to suspend concessions or other obligations with respect to Russia, such as the suspension of most-favoured-nation treatment to products and services of the Russian Federation."

The Russian Embassy in Dhaka, in a separate note verbale to the foreign ministry, said that the representatives of the EU, the USA and Canada are seeking to lower the level of the Russian Federation's participation in the Kimberley Process and Canada made an effort to remove Russia from the Chairman's posts in the Committee on Participation and Chairmanship and the Committee on Rules and Procedures ineptly referring to the alleged "UN sanctions" against Russia. The USA refused to participate in the said committees under the Russian chairmanship.

The Russian side calls on the Bangladeshi side to oppose the Western countries' attempts to question the compliance of Russian diamonds with KP requirements.

The Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition, a biassed pro-American NGO, publicly initiated the issue of possible labelling of Russian diamonds as "conflict". Such accusations are groundless and politically motivated, Russia pointed out.

The note verbale said the Russian side calls on the Bangladeshi side to oppose the Western countries' attempts to question the compliance of Russian diamonds with KP requirements. Such precedent may entail further spread of practice to pressurise the important sphere of the member states' economies under political pretexts.

"Any harm caused to the global natural diamond sector, which is crucial for million-strong communities in Asia and Africa, will benefit only the American manufacturers and traders of synthetic products, which resort to speculative pricing," it added.

The Russian side would highly appreciate it if the Bangladeshi side encourages national organisations to support Russian trading bodies in the relevant international formats in order to avoid artificial destabilisation of the global diamond sector, Moscow said.

Countries opposing Russia make 70% of Dhaka's export market

The countries that have signed a joint statement against Russia in the WTO are Bangladesh's main export markets. The EU, the US, the UK, Canada and Japan account for more than 70% of Bangladesh's total export earnings. Bangladesh enjoys a duty-free export facility to all these countries except the US.

Russia's main rival in the international arena, the United States, has imposed sanctions on Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and some of its former and current officials, accusing them of human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings. Dhaka is trying to strengthen its ties with the US to have the sanctions withdrawn.

On the other hand, Russia had been a strong supporter of Bangladesh during its Liberation War in 1971 and provided extensive aid.

Bangladesh abstained from voting at the UN General Assembly resolution that reprimanded Russia for invading Ukraine. Bangladesh was among 35 countries, including India, Pakistan and China, who did not vote.

US calls Dhaka's neutral position unacceptable

Later, in a US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue in Dhaka, the US described Bangladesh's "neutral" position as "unacceptable" and said now was not the time to remain neutral.

Following the dialogue, Bangladesh voted in favour of another resolution calling for an end to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

On 30 March in parliament, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh did not vote against any country, but it stood for humanity in the United Nations General Assembly, clearing her country's stance regarding the issue.

Earlier talking about the reason behind abstaining from voting on the UN resolution, Sheikh Hasina said, "Russia is a friendly country for Bangladesh and it stood beside us when the US sent 7th fleet towards Pakistan during the War of Liberation in 1971.

"Russia stood by us in our bad times and we are surely beside the country, but if they [Russia] do anything unjustified we do not accept this."

The prime minister explained, "We do not want war. But we have to see who started the war. That is why we did not make any decision. Since the resolution is not meant to stop the war but to blame a country, we have decided not to vote."

Molla Saleheen Shiraj, commercial counsellor of Bangladesh in Moscow, in a report to the commerce ministry said there could be some opportunities when Russia feels isolated from the West and likely to strengthen business ties with other regions, which it does not consider unfriendly. At the same time, Moscow will also want to open alternative sources for various products to the Russian market.

Bangladesh can seize the moment and proceed with its interest tactfully so that it can gain some additional mileage without annoying the Western countries. The ultimate goal would be signing a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union led by Russia, according to the report.