WIKIFX REPORT: Sri Lanka is open to buying Russian oil, PM tells AP

According to the statement released by the Sirilanka prime minister, the country may be forced to buy more oil from Russia Considering the shortage experienced by Sirilanka during the unprecedented economic crisis.

The Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, in an interview with the news agency on Saturday, said he would first look to other sources, but would be open to buying more crude from Moscow.

The country is in the midst of its worst financial crisis in seven decades and severely strapped for dollars to pay for critical imports including food, fuel and medicine. Long lines, sometimes kilometers long, are a common sight near petrol stations across the country, which has also been hit by rolling power cuts.

When Washington and its allies are trying to cut financial flows supporting Moscow's war effort, Russia is offering its crude at a steep discount, making it extremely enticing to a number of countries.

The Sirilanka prime minister

Wickremesinghe, who is also Sri Lanka's finance minister, also highlighted that he would be willing to accept more financial help from China, despite the island nation's mounting debts.

The current predicament of Sirilanka was of “its own making”, he said, and the war in Ukraine was making it even worse adding that dire food shortages could continue until 2024.

He said Russia had also offered wheat to Sri Lanka, the AP reported. And Sri Lanka was also trying to get oil and coal from its traditional suppliers in the Middle East.

Although negotiating with private suppliers continue been pushed by the officials, but Wickremesinghe said one issue they face is that “there is a lot of oil going around which can be sourced back informally to Iran or to Russia.” Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February, global oil prices have skyrocketed.