DHAKA: Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman has formally requested the United States to grant Bangladesh a special waiver to import refined diesel and other petroleum products derived from Russian sources to ease energy challenges, state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news agency reported on Wednesday.

The request was made during a meeting with US Energy Secretary Chris Wright at the Department of Energy in Washington DC on Tuesday.

During the talks, the foreign minister underscored Bangladesh's ongoing energy challenges stemming from global supply chain disruptions, particularly ahead of the critical planting season, and stressed the need to ensure uninterrupted fuel supply for farmers and safeguard food security.

Direct waiver

Rahman explained that Bangladesh could not take advantage of the earlier limited world-wide waiver by US on Russian oil at sea since none of the tankers were bound for Bangladesh at that time.

In addition to seeking a direct waiver, the two sides discussed the options to buy more refined oil out of Russian crude from third countries to meet immediate need.

US Energy Secretary Wright acknowledged the energy challenges Bangladesh is facing and expressed his country's commitment to support Bangladesh during these difficult times to help ensure its energy security.

'Positively consider'

He said the US will 'positively consider' the requests of Bangladesh and assured that he and his team would work closely with the relevant departments of the US government to this end.

The two sides also discussed longer-term cooperation for sustainable energy solutions for Bangladesh and the prospects of increasing procurement of US energy products.

Secretary Chris Wright was assisted by Chief of Staff to the Secretary Carl Cole, Senior Adviser to the Secretary Audrey Robertson, Senior Adviser to the Secretary Andrew Rapp, Director, Office of Asian Affairs Margaux Murali and Fellow, Office of Asian Affairs Hamna Khan.

From Bangladesh side, Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA Tareq Md Ariful Islam, Deputy Chief of Mission DM Salahuddin Mahmud and Economic Minister Dr Md Fazle Rabbi attended the meeting with the foreign minister.

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Bangladesh seeks US waiver to import Russian fuel