(MENAFN) Bangladesh’s reluctance to condemn Russia over the Ukraine conflict was reportedly a factor behind US efforts to remove Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former cabinet minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury has claimed. Hasina, who governed the country for 15 years, fled Bangladesh in August 2024 amid violent student-led protests that left around 700 people dead, according to estimates.

Chowdhury, who served as shipping minister and played a key role in negotiations during the crisis, said the unrest was fueled by NGOs linked to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Clinton family. He highlighted Bangladesh’s abstention on UN resolutions condemning Russia as a primary source of tension with Washington.

“There was a resolution that was brought in the UN. And there was intense lobbying for Bangladesh to vote against Russia. So our position was that we are going to abstain from voting,” Chowdhury said. He explained that, unlike many other South Asian countries that “simply slavishly followed what was being dictated to them,” Bangladesh aimed to balance its international relations, maintaining ties with Russia, a long-term partner supplying wheat, fertilizers, and other essential goods.

Chowdhury added that the Hasina government consistently called for peace and recognized that escalating the conflict would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe—an approach he said was unpopular with certain powers. Bangladesh abstained from several UN General Assembly votes in 2022 and 2023 condemning Moscow and demanding Russian troop withdrawals, prompting the Russian embassy in Dhaka to express gratitude for the country’s position.

The nation remains under an interim government, which has pledged to hold elections in 2026.

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