US likely to destabilise Bangladesh along the lines of ‘Arab Spring’: Russia

Russia has accused US ambassador in Bangladesh Peter D Haas of direct connection with recent anti-government protests in Bangladesh and said the country might face pressure including sanctions following the 7 January parliamentary election.

Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said this in a statement on 15 December, reports Russian state news agency TASS.

“On December 12-13, in a number of areas of Bangladesh, opponents of the current government blocked road traffic, burned buses, and clashed with the police. We see a direct connection between these events and the inflammatory activity of Western diplomatic missions in Dhaka. In particular, US Ambassador P. Haas, which we already discussed at the briefing on November 22.”

Zakharova said Bangladesh’s key industries might come under pressure and US is likely to destabilise the situation in Bangladesh along the lines of ‘Arab Spring’.

“There are serious reasons to fear that in the coming weeks an even wider arsenal of pressure, including sanctions, may be used against the government of Bangladesh, which is undesirable to the West.

Key industries may come under attack, as well as a number of officials who will be accused without evidence of obstructing the democratic will of citizens in the upcoming parliamentary elections on 7 January 2024. If the results of the people's will are not satisfactory to the United States, attempts to further destabilise the situation in Bangladesh along the lines of the “Arab Spring” are likely,” Zakharova said in the statement.

The Russian foreign ministry spokesperson added that it is unlikely that US would stop from interfering in Bangladesh’s internal affairs.

“Unfortunately, there is little chance that Washington will come to its senses and refrain from yet another gross interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. We are confident, however, that despite all the machinations of external forces, the issue of power in Bangladesh will ultimately be decided by the friendly people of this country, and no one else,” she added.