The Diplomatic Insight | 9 June 2026
Bangladesh pushes for free trade with Russia as foreign ministers meet in Moscow
Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister, Dr. Khalilur Rahman, held wide-ranging bilateral talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Monday.
He used the meeting to press for deeper trade ties, accelerate the country’s flagship nuclear energy project in this first top-level diplomatic contact between the two countries since September 2023, when Lavrov had travelled to Dhaka.
The Moscow trip was Dr. Khalilur’s first bilateral visit abroad after being elected President of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Dhaka sought duty-free and quota-free access for Bangladeshi products in the Russian market, and Khalilur Rahman also requested Russian support for concluding a free trade agreement between Bangladesh and the Eurasian Economic Commission.
The two sides also discussed the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers for jobs in Russia, and the foreign minister raised the issue of compatriots already there, requesting the safe repatriation of a number of Bangladeshis stranded in Russia, with Lavrov assuring full consideration of the matter.
The centerpiece of the energy discussion was the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant; a Russian-financed and Russian-built project that has come to symbolize the two countries’ strategic partnership.
FM Rahman thanked Moscow for the fuel loading of the plant’s first unit and called on Lavrov to extend full support in expediting the commissioning of the second unit as planned.
Lavrov, in turn, congratulated Khalilur Rahman on his election as UNGA president and assured him of Russia’s full support in his efforts to strengthen the UN’s central role in global affairs.
He expressed hope that the 55th anniversary of bilateral relations, due in January next year, would be marked through concrete initiatives in trade, economy, culture, and military-technical cooperation.
The press conference following the meeting, however, was partly overshadowed by Lavrov’s remarks on the Ukraine conflict, in which he said that Moscow remains ready for “honest talks free of deception” with Ukraine.
