DHAKA, Bangladesh

Bangladesh has scaled up its efforts to prevent any of the 69 US-sanctioned Russian ships from entering its territory, the Foreign Ministry and local sources said on Friday.

The Mercantile Marine Office of Bangladesh, located in the country’s main port city of Chattogram, issued a circular addressing the International Maritime Organization (IMO) on Jan. 16, stating that any of those ships are not allowed to avail of any services in the country, including certification, renewal, refueling, and insurance, local daily the New Age reported.

The IMO is the UN specialized agency responsible for shipping safety and security.

The circular seems to be the outcome of US pressure on Bangladesh, as it was issued a day after Donald Lu, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs, visited the country for two days.

“Bangladesh is obviously barring the entry of Russian ships sanctioned by the US to please the Joe Biden administration as the country is already under heavy pressure due to Washington's sanction on the country’s elite force, Rapid Action Battalion,” Md Shahabul Haque, professor at the Department of Political Studies at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, told Anadolu.

Haque, also a political analyst, added that Bangladesh's decision to bar US-sanctioned Russian ships from entering the country would adversely impact the bilateral relationship between Dhaka and Moscow.

"As a small Asian country, Bangladesh should take a balanced diplomatic stance like India," he suggested.

On Jan. 22, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen called on Russia to transport any materials to the country using ships other than the 69 sanctioned by the US.

“We have developed a good relationship with the United States and we don’t want to accept those ships which are under the sanctions,” Momen said.

In November last year, a Russian vessel called Ursa Major left the country’s Saint Petersburg port with equipment for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, the first nuclear power plant in Bangladesh, which is being developed by the Russian Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation.

According to available media reports, the Russian ship's original name was Sparta-3, which had been sanctioned by the US due to the Ukraine war, and Russia changed the name to Ursa Major before sailing to Bangladesh to avoid the embargo.

A director in the Foreign Ministry told Anadolu on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media about the issue, said the relationship between Bangladesh and Russia is very strong and that Moscow must realize the ground reality of the government in Dhaka for barring the sanctioned ship.

Bangladesh adheres to the founding fathers' foreign policy of "friendship to all and malice to none," he added.