Russian foreign minister Lavrov likely to visit Bangladesh

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is likely to visit Bangladesh on 7 to 8 September for discussing issues of mutual interest - bilateral, regional and global, reports UNB.

He’s supposed to attend the G20 Summit in New Delhi from 9 to 10 September after his visit to Bangladesh, says a diplomatic source.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka and the Russian Embassy are yet to make any official announcement regarding the planned visit.

However, a diplomatic source in Moscow said that the Russian foreign minister will meet prime minister Sheikh Hasina apart from his bilateral meeting with foreign minister AK Abdul Momen.

Lavrov was scheduled to visit Bangladesh on 23 November last year, mainly to attend the 22nd IORA Council of Ministers meeting, held in Dhaka on 24 November. But the visit was cancelled last minute.

Later, foreign minister Momen and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov had a telephone conversation and shed light on the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Russia and expressed their desire to take these relations to greater heights.

During a telephone conversation, the Russian foreign minister expressed his regret for not being able to come to Dhaka due to schedule complications and expressed his intention to soon make a visit.

Momen thanked Russia for its cooperation with Bangladesh in the construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and invited Russian president Putin to visit Bangladesh on behalf of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.