The US has termed Moscow's allegations that the US ambassador aided anti-government rallies in Dhaka as a “deliberate mischaracterization” of the US foreign policy and Peter Haas’s meetings.
“We are aware of Ms Zakharova’s deliberate mischaracterization of US foreign policy and Ambassador Haas’s meetings,” a State Department spokesperson said in reply to a Dhaka Tribune query on Saturday.
“The United States does not support any political party in Bangladesh. Nor does the United States favour one political party over another. We want what the Bangladeshi people themselves want: free and fair elections, which are conducted in a peaceful manner,” the spokesperson said.
Russia accuses US envoy Peter Haas of aiding anti-govt rallies in Bangladesh“To support that shared goal of free and fair elections conducted in a peaceful manner, US Embassy personnel engage and will continue to engage with the government, opposition, civil society, and other stakeholders to urge them to work together for the benefit of the Bangladeshi people.”
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, in a briefing in Moscow, said : "At the end of October, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas met with a member of the local opposition to discuss plans for organizing anti-government rallies.”
"Such actions amount to nothing less than gross interference in internal affairs," she said.
The general election will be held on January 7 amid opposition BNP's call to boycott the poll.
Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in Dhaka posted the full transcript of the spokesperson’s statement on its facebook on Saturday titled “US interference in the internal affairs of Bangladesh”.
The full statement is given below:
“We have spoken repeatedly about the attempts by the United States and its allies to influence internal political processes in Bangladesh, ostensibly under the banner of ensuring “transparency and inclusiveness” in the upcoming parliamentary elections there. Do you understand where the United States is and where Bangladesh is? Today I would like to return to this topic once again."
“Information has come to light regarding a meeting at the end of October between US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas and a high-ranking representative of the local opposition. They reportedly discussed plans to organize mass anti-government protests in the country during the meeting. In particular, the American Ambassador promised his interlocutor to provide information support in the event that the authorities used force against participants in “peaceful demonstrations.” These assurances were purportedly made on behalf of the embassies of the United States, Britain, Australia and several other countries."
“We witnessed a similar scenario ten years ago. And it worked. We remember how Victoria Nuland, the US Senior Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, handed out buns. Nothing other than buns. The meme was about cookies, but in fact they were buns, as well as leaflets, T-shirts, scarves, flags and other symbols, millions of copies of which materialized out of nowhere. Large quantities of food were provided for free, as long as people stayed in the squares and took part in what they labelled as illegal protests, but which in fact was an anti-constitutional coup. Someone did all this during the first and second Maidan. Where did these funds come from? Now it has become clear how it all works if we look at the example of Bangladesh."
“How can these actions of the American Ambassador to Bangladesh be regarded? They can be seen as nothing less than gross interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state on the part of Washington and its satellites, demonstrating open disregard for the norms and rules enshrined in the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations."
“On our part, we have no doubts regarding the ability of the Bangladeshi authorities to hold the parliamentary elections scheduled for January 7, 2024, in full compliance with national legislation, independently, without the help of overseas well-wishers,” read the statement.
