MOSCOW, June 8 -- The last time a senior Russian diplomat stood in Dhaka, it was September 2023, Sergey Lavrov had flown in to meet Sheikh Hasina, and Bangladesh's foreign policy was effectively tethered to a government that would fall within a year. On Monday, in a gilded meeting room at Zinaida Morozova's Mansion in Moscow, Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman reversed the direction of that exchange - and the country sending the invitation is not the same one that received it.

"I've had the honor to warmly extend an invitation to you, Foreign Minister Lavrov, to visit us once again," Rahman said at a joint press conference following their talks. "You have done that in 2023 and we are looking forward to receiving you in the nea...