Bankrupt Lanka asks Putin for fuel, tourists

Colombo: Sri Lanka has asked Russia to provide fuel and resume tourist flights to help the country weather its unprecedented economic crisis, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on Wednesday.

Rajapaksa said he had spoken with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to ask for supplies of urgently needed fuel on loan and to “humbly” request the resumption of flights between Moscow and Colombo. “We unanimously agreed that strengthening bilateral relations in sectors such as tourism, trade & culture was paramount in reinforcing the friendship our two nations share.” Aeroflot suspended flights last month after a Sri Lankan court briefly detained an Airbus belonging to the state-owned airline's fleet over a payment dispute.

The US and European Union have both imposed embargoes on Russian oil in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Sri Lanka had bought 90,000 tonnes of Siberian crude in May through an intermediary in Dubai, but ran out of dollars to purchase more.