Russian foreign minister Lavrov lands in Dhaka

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in Bangladesh this evening.

A flight carrying him from Jarkata, Indonesia landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 6:17pm. Foreign minister AK Abdul Momen welcomed him there.

The two foreign ministers are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting at hotel InterContinental in Dhaka in the evening.

Lavrov will pay a courtesy call on prime minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence, Ganabhaban, on Friday morning and pay tribute at the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi.

Later, Sergey Lavrov will exchange views with a delegation of distinguished Bangladeshi individuals who pursued their education in the former Soviet Union. He will depart for New Delhi at noon, to join the G20 summit.

Diplomatic sources in Dhaka and Moscow on Wednesday said the visit is very significant as this is the first trip to Bangladesh by any foreign minister of Russia.

Alongside bilateral relations, the context of Russia-Ukraine war and political cooperation between the two sides ahead of the upcoming parliament election in Bangladesh will prominently come up for discussion.

Foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen, while speaking to newspersons at the Foreign Service Academy on Tuesday, said, "We've a longstanding relation with Russia. We shall discuss the complex global situations including the Ukraine crisis. We could request Russia to find a peaceful solution soon."

He also said many other issues including Rohingya repatriation, food, fertiliser and fuel will be discussed with the Russian foreign minister.