Sri Lanka President Pleads With Putin To Help Import Fuel

Global oil prices have skyrocketed since Russia and Ukraine war started prompting some countries to seek discounted crude imports from Russia. Sri Lanka’s president; Gotabaya Rajapaksa says he urged his Russian counterpart to help import fuel to his cash-strapped island nation as it faces its worst economic crisis in decades.

After years of economic mismanagement and a foreign exchange crunch due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, Sri Lanka is struggling to import essential goods, leading to severe shortages of medicine, food, and fuel.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa wrote in a tweet on Wednesday: “Had a very fruitful telecon with Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

He said, “Thank you for all the support extended by his government to overcome the challenges of the past, I requested the offer of credit assistance to #lka to import fuel to defeat the current economic challenges.”

Western countries have largely cut energy imports from Russia in line with sanctions over its war on Ukraine. Since the invasion in late February, global oil prices have skyrocketed, prompting many countries to seek Russian crude, which is being offered at steep discounts.

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has led to severe fuel shortages, forcing the government to close schools and cut back on consumption of limited stocks to allow workers other than essential services to work from home.

The government had earlier said that no entity is ready to supply oil to Sri Lanka even for cash as it has huge debts on Petroleum Corporation.

Sri Lanka has already bought oil from Russia during the crisis, and the government has indicated it is ready to buy more.

“We unanimously agreed that strengthening bilateral ties in areas such as tourism, trade, and culture is paramount to strengthen the friendship between our two countries,” Rajapaksa said.