Dhaka: Bangladesh and Russia have signed an agreement on visa-free visit for persons holding diplomatic and official (service) passports.

At a meeting held on Thursday evening at the UN Headquarters, Bangladesh Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov signed the deal on behalf of their respective governments.  

The agreement once implemented will ease and enhance the level of engagements between the peoples of the two friendly countries, said foreign ministry here on Friday.  

During the meeting, the two foreign ministers discussed issues of mutual interests.  

They also discussed the possibility of a visit by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to Dhaka sometime early 2017.

The Russian side showed interest in formalising a few agreements, including the Inter-governmental cooperation, maritime cooperation, and send delegation to Dhaka to further the ongoing discussion.

Foreign Minister Ali thanked the Russian government for its continued support to Bangladesh and especially referred to the implementation of the country's first nuclear power plant under the Russian assistance.  

Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque was present during the meeting.