As soon as Anura became President, the Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka came to meet him. During this meeting, he handed over a special personal invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The invitation was for Anura to attend the ‘BRICS’ summit held in Russia.
Russia had maintained close ties with the JVP, as it is reputed to be an anti-American, anti-imperialist party. From this perspective, Russia likely viewed Anura’s rise to power as adding another country to the group of nations opposed to the United States and friendly toward Russia. Putin likely extended the invitation to Anura immediately after he became President, based on this expectation.
However, Anura did not accept Putin’s invitation. He may have been reluctant to accept it to avoid upsetting the United States. At that time, Anura maintained a close relationship with the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Julie Chung.
Meanwhile, when Anura came to power, the government of Ranil Wickremesinghe had already decided to hand over the Mattala Airport to a joint Russia-India company. Due to U.S. sanctions on Russia, Ambassador Julie Chung pressured the government to halt the move. Then Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva publicly confirmed this and stated that the government would not bow to U.S. pressure. However, after Anura became President, the decision to hand over Mattala Airport to the Russia-India joint venture was reversed, in line with U.S. pressure.
Angered by this, the Russian Ambassador stated at a media briefing that there were no viable projects for investment in Sri Lanka and that the environment in the country was not conducive for investment.
With the onset of the Iran war, the United States lifted the sanctions it had imposed on Russia, allowing India to obtain oil from Russia. Soon after the restrictions were lifted, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath met with the Russian Ambassador and requested to purchase the oil Sri Lanka needed. Russia facilitated discussions by connecting Sri Lanka with its Energy Minister, but an issue has arisen regarding the currency to be used for payment for the oil.
Anura likely did not foresee such a crisis when he declined Putin’s invitation. Had he attended the ‘BRICS’ Summit and strengthened ties with Putin, Sri Lanka might have received a more favourable response from Russia. Russia may now be thinking that this is a case of “our turn has come.”
